


Murder Will Out

by faithharkness



Series: MWOVerse [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Merlin (TV), Torchwood, Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Sex, Author Is Sleep Deprived, F/M, Hannah knows everyone, M/M, Oral Sex, Switching, The Author Regrets Nothing, Violence, Wall Sex, multifandom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 21:57:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 45,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1320610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithharkness/pseuds/faithharkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a good, old-fashioned serial killer story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> This is a multi-fandom AU crossover with no powers. Mostly. 
> 
> As two of the fandoms have a Gwen, Merlin’s Gwen will be spelled “Guin” or written out “Guinevere” and Torchwood’s will be “Gwen”.
> 
>  **Important new note about characters:** After a lot of thinking, I have decided to NOT write RPF anymore. I never did that much and won't be taking down my sole completed RPF fic, but readers who have been following this may notice that a certain person has been replaced by a comic book character. If you choose to picture this new character as the old, actual person, well....that's your decision. I may or may not be doing so myself.

**Part I**  
Detective Sergeant Hannah Summers-Fogg jumped over the back of her sofa, landing on the cushions with her legs folded under her. She gave the television a quick glance.

“Body in the wall; the father did it,” she said, then reached for the bowl of popcorn.

Merlin Emrys beat her to the bowl, scooped up a few pieces and threw them at her. “We have a _rule_! No solving the crime out loud before the first commercial break.”

Hannah laughed as she tried to catch the pieces of in-flight popcorn in her mouth.

“Why do you even watch these procedurals? Don’t you get enough of it at the work?” Merlin asked.

Hannah grinned as she ate her popcorn. “I like to see how quickly I can figure out whodunit.”

Ianto Jones laughed from his seat in the leather armchair. “She’s trying to break Jack’s record,” he explained to Merlin.

“He _cheats_!” Hannah countered, her index finger lifted in indignation. “You are not allowed to use the guest stars in the opening credits.”

The doorbell rang.

“Your turn, Emrys. That’s Tosh with pizza,” Hannah said.

“How is it my turn again?” Merlin asked.

“You’re the new flatmate. It’s always your turn. Pizza!” she replied, making shooing motions with her hands.

Merlin rolled his eyes and got off the sofa, heading for the front door of the flat. “Hey T—you’re not Tosh,” he said as he opened the door.

“I’m Jack,” the tall, startlingly good-looking man in front of him said. “But you should remember that, seeing as I saw you an hour ago and you’re living with my partner.”

“Ah, yes. Jack. The cheater,” Merlin said, nodding, a grin on his face.

“You never called no opening credits!” Jack shouted as he stepped past Merlin to go argue with Hannah.

“Don’t mind him, Merlin. He doesn’t know how to behave with tact,” Toshiko Sato said. She had taken the lift, so she was shortly behind Jack, who had opted for the stairs. She had several pizza boxes in her hands.

“Hi, Tosh. Let me help with those,” Merlin said, reaching out to take the top two boxes.

“I made sure to get plenty of veg options,” she said as she kicked the door closed behind her.

“Aren’t you going to lock it?” he asked.

“Flat full of coppers and solicitors, Merlin. We should be fine,” she said as she walked past him.

Merlin reached out to lock the door anyway before following her to the living room.

“Oh, this coming from the man who thinks ‘probative merit’ is a proposition!” Hannah was saying as Merlin and Tosh entered the living room.

“Pizza!” Tosh called out.

“Tosh, you’re a love!” Hannah said, leaning over the back of the sofa to help.

“Yeah, yeah. I brought the pizza; I pick the film,” Tosh said as she handed over the boxes.

Jack groaned.

Hannah threw popcorn at him.

“What’ll it be, Tosh?” Ianto asked.

“ _Predators_.”

“Goooorrrreeee!” Hannah said with a bloodthirsty shout.

“Suddenly, the reason you and Teddy get along so well becomes clear,” Merlin stated.

Hannah stuck her tongue out at him.

“Where is Elf, anyway? It’s not like him to miss movie night,” Jack asked.

“He decided to do a good deed and is covering Morgan’s shift. I promised him there would be no classic horror viewed while he was not present,” Tosh explained.

Jack, who had plopped himself on the end of the sofa closest to Ianto, turned to look at the prosecutor. “Will you hold my hand during the scary parts?”

Ianto blushed and reached for his wine.

Hannah smacked Jack on the back of the head. “Don’t make me kill you before we get a chance to watch the gore.”

“You’re in a room full of scientists and solicitors!” Jack protested.

“Which means I have the best people for clean-up!”  
*****

DS Hannah Summers-Fogg sat at the table in the interrogation room. Behind her, DS Jack Harkness leaned menacingly against the wall. Gone was the cheerful banter of two nights before; today, they were the fiercest team in the Major Investigations Unit. 

They had been interrogating the suspect for close to two hours and Jack could tell by the way Hannah had her head cocked to the side that she was one snide answer away from either leaving the room in disgust or going over the table at the suspect. Jack took a few minutes to calculate the odds before he decided to intervene in the 10-minutes long stare-down.

“It’s because she’s blonde, isn’t it?” Jack asked.

“Wot?” the suspect, Jimmy Babylon, said.

“DS Summers-Fogg. It’s because she’s blonde. You can’t get up the gumption to charm her because you prefer brunettes,” Jack said, pushing himself off the wall to join Hannah at the table. He turned the chair around and plopped himself into it.

Jimmy leaned forward. “I don’t need to put any effort into it.”

Jack grinned. “Oh, I know how that goes. Girls throwing themselves at you left and right.”

Jimmy relaxed and smiled. “One does have to beat them off occasionally.”

“With a cricket bat?” Hannah asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Shut up,” Jimmy sneered. “What would you know about it?”

“I know someone beat Angela Hastings to death with a blunt object. Someone who was really pissed at her,” she replied.

Jack whistled. “Brutally beat her, Fogg. What kind of monster could do that to a beauty like this?” he asked, picking up the photo of the young girl.

“A sick, twisted monster, Harkness. Only explanation.”

“Fascinating discussion. But how does this apply to my client?” Jimmy’s brief asked.

“Oh, we’re just working on the mindset of the killer.”

“Then you’ve obviously got the wrong man. I loved her!” Jimmy said, tired of being ignored while the others talked.

“Really?” Jack asked.

“What? Is loving someone a crime now?”

“It is when she’s 14 and you’re…not,” Hannah replied.

“Our love was chaste,” Jimmy said quickly, realizing he’d stepped in it.

“That’s not what the video shows,” Jack said quietly.

“What?”

Hannah tsked. “Oh, Jimmy. You didn’t really think you’d hidden it that well, did you? Tosh had a field day searching your flat.”

“The things you made that little girl do,” Jack snarled.

“She loved it!”

“Is that why she was begging you to stop?”

Jimmy froze.

“You really need to learn how to edit your footage,” Hannah said. “Especially if you’re going to murder someone.”

Jack stood up and rounded the table. “Jimmy Babylon, we are charging you…”  
*****

Ianto hurried toward his office at CPS London, wanting to get to his desk and write down the line of questioning that had come to him on his way up the stairs before he lost it. He stopped dead and took three steps backward, looking into an office that should have been crammed with personal items and a busy solicitor; should have, but wasn’t. He turned on his heel and headed for the Director’s office. He knocked on the open door as he stepped inside.

John Smith looked up from the file on his desk. “Ianto! You’re here early.”

Ianto raised an eyebrow, but let the comment go. It was a rumored truth that John Smith had some sort of hidden room within the walls of his office for the many nights he didn’t bother going home. “Where’s Martha?”

“Private sector.”

Ianto slumped against the door. “She didn’t.”

“She did.”

“But we have the Parkinson trial this week! And Harkness and Summers-Fogg have just charged Babylon,” he said as he entered the office fully.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already found you a replacement.”

“Are they going to get here any time this morning?” Ianto asked. He hated change. He especially hated it when said change meant him losing the best second chair he’d ever had.

“He’s already here. I sent him out for coffee. Wanted to let you have your tantrum without him here; didn’t want the lad to feel unwelcome.”

“And when did you have _your_ tantrum?” he asked, wanting to know just how long Smith had known Martha was really intent on leaving.

“That’s personal, Ianto. You know how I hate to mix personal with business. Ah, Arthur, come in,” Smith said, waving over Ianto’s shoulder at someone.

Ianto turned to see the newcomer and nearly swallowed his tongue in shock.

“Hi, I’m Arthur Penn. I’m looking forward to working with you,” the young man said, holding one hand out to shake Ianto’s as the other balanced a tray with coffees.

“Er, yes. Welcome to the team. Has John briefed you yet?” Ianto asked.

“No, he said you’d take care of that. Sent me for coffee.”

Smith came around the desk and nicked his coffee from the tray, grinning broadly at Ianto.

“All right. Your office is third down the way. Why don’t you get settled and I’ll meet you there?” Ianto asked Arthur, snagging the cup marked ‘Jones’ from the tray.

“Right,” Arthur said, then left the office.

Ianto waited until the younger man was inside his new office before approaching Smith. “Are you _completely_ mad?” he hissed.

“What? You should see his scores! Brilliant mind. Two weeks, you’ll never know he wasn’t here from the beginning.”

“You hired Uther Penn’s son to work for you!”

“Oh, that,” Smith said, waving him off. 

“Yes, that. The son of your most infamous rival and you just hire him and expect me to not be suspicious?”

Smith shrugged. “Arthur is very much not his father’s son.”

“You’re doing this just to piss him off.”

“I’m doing this because I needed a new prosecutor and Arthur was the best candidate.”

“I’d work on that line before you use it on Uther,” Ianto said before storming out.  
****

“Nice work, you two,” DI Donna Noble said to Jack and Hannah as they returned to their desks.

“Thanks, guv,” Hannah said.

“Don’t thank me yet.

“I hate it when she gets that twinkle in her eye,” Jack said.

“It never ends well for us,” Hannah agreed.

“It ended worse for the body near Canary Wharf. Scene of crime is on its way. I suggest you hurry before you’re too late for the party.”

They grabbed their coats and bolted.  
*****

“I want to be here.”

Ianto shook his head to clear it and looked up from the Parkinson file. “I’m sorry?”

Arthur looked at him earnestly from across the desk. “I want to be here. I’ve wanted to be a Crown Prosecutor, to make a difference, for as long as I can remember. I won’t deny Smith probably hired me to stick it to my dad. Their history was an advantage and I used it; I won’t apologize for that. But I want to be here and I’ll work hard.”

Ianto nodded and returned his attention to the file. “You’ll have to.”

Arthur allowed himself a small smile of triumph.  
*****

Hannah snickered as she and Jack came up on the crime scene.

“I swear, if it’s another stupid baseball joke, I’m gonna hurt you,” Jack muttered.

“No, just watching Merlin,” she said, nodding to where the young man was adjusting his coat as he walked toward them with Tosh.

“What did you do to him?” Jack asked, noticing Merlin’s grimace as his coat pulled tight across his chest.

“Roommate bonding,” she said as Jack lifted the tape for her to duck under.

“Tattoos?”

She snorted. “I don’t repeat myself, Harkness. You should know that by now.”

Jack shook his head. 

“What have we got, Winston?” Hannah asked the uniformed officer.

“Kids skiving off school found the body. Two of them ran off screaming; one managed to keep her head and dial 999,” he explained as they walked to the body.

Jack crouched beside the tarp the uniformed officers had placed over the body to protect it from the threatening rain. He lifted up the edge and grimaced. This was the worst he’d seen in a long time. “Han,” he said, gesturing her over.

“Jesus, he’s just a kid,” Hannah breathed as Jack tossed the tarp back completely.

“Hasn’t been here long. Emrys can probably give us a time of death,” Jack said.

“Stop contaminating my scene, Harkness,” Tosh said.

Jack stood and turned to smile at her. “Nice to see you out at the scene.”

“You left Elf in charge of the lab?” Hannah asked.

“It’s Merlin’s first day in the field here. Thought it would do him good to see a friendly face,” she said. “ _Teddy_ is perfectly capable of handling the lab while I’m here. And back off my scene.”

Jack chuckled and stepped out of the way.

“Christ!” Merlin said, staggering back when he caught sight of the body.

Jack reached out and caught him by the elbow. “Easy, there. Take a moment.”

Merlin turned wide blue eyes to him.

“He’s back.”  
*****

Jack and Hannah quickly bundled Merlin into their car, trusting Tosh to manage the crime scene and be sure the body made it to the coroner’s safely.

Jack drove while Hannah sat in the back, her arm around a shuddering Merlin.

“This is the thing, isn’t it?” she asked him softly.

Merlin nodded.

“What thing?” Jack asked from the front seat.

“Merlin will explain once we get back. Noble’s going to want to sit in on this, I think,” Hannah said, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror.

“You think?”

“When. We. Get. Back.”

Jack arched an eyebrow at her, then backed down under the supremacy of her own arched brow before returning his attention to the road.  
*****

“Would one of you care to explain to me why you abandoned a crime scene, taking the Assistant Coroner with you?” Donna Noble bellowed as Jack and Hannah returned with a pale Merlin between them.

“It’s my fault,” Merlin said.

DI Noble looked him over from head to toe. “I’ll call Bones and make sure she knows Tosh will be coming in with the body. And then you _will_ debrief me.”

Jack and Hannah nodded before shuffling Merlin off to an open interrogation room. Hannah snagged a cup of coffee from a passing detective on their way.

“Drink this,” she said, shoving the cup into Merlin’s hands.

Merlin lifted the cup to his lips, taking a long pull as he sat down. Hannah sat beside him, leaving room for Jack to sit on the edge of the table.

Hannah rubbed a hand over her face. “Merlin, when you said you had left Armagh for London because something bad had happened, I figured you meant a bad break-up. Not a murderer.”

“You have to understand, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Merlin said, grabbing her hand.

“We believe you, Merlin, just talk to us,” Jack said.

“Really. I don’t go get pierced with just anyone,” Hannah said, squeezing Merlin’s hand as she gave him one of her genuine, engaging smiles.

Jack arched a brow, but let it go as Merlin took a deep breath.

“It started out as letters. Then silly, innocuous gifts sent to me just after I finished my degree and started working for the coroner. W-Will and I,” he swallowed hard. “My boyfriend, Will, and I laughed them off. He thought it was some young student with a crush on me—I was doing some mentoring. I told him no one sane had crushes on gawky geniuses. He smacked me on the back of the head because he loved me, so obviously people had deep, burning love for gawky geniuses. I told him he had just proved my point,” he said, tearing up.

“Slowly, Merlin. We’ve got time,” Hannah said gently.

Jack shot her a look that clearly said, _No, we really don’t._

She didn’t have to look at her partner to know both the look he was sending her and the fact that she would ignore it.

“After six months of seemingly innocuous gifts and letters, the threats started. Something bad would happen if I didn’t acknowledge him. Didn’t I realize we belonged together?” Merlin stated, his tone flat.

“Did you report any of this to the police?” Jack asked.

“No. Not until he started threatening Will.”

Hannah kept her face impassive as her grip tightened on Merlin’s hand.

“All the letters had always been about me and _him_. Then he started talking about Will in them. He believed Will was what was holding me back. If Will would just leave me, I would see that _he_ was better for me. I wanted to go to the police right away. Will said he wasn’t scared and I shouldn’t be, either,” Merlin said.

“And then, one day, the brakes on Will’s car went out on a mountain road. By some miracle, he survived the accident, but he was in a coma for two weeks. I thought I had lost him because I caved to his stubbornness. I made sure there was a guard at his door the entire time he was in hospital.”

“How did you manage that?” Jack asked. A security detail for two weeks seemed a bit out of bounds for someone who wasn’t a material witness.

Merlin smiled. “Gaius, the coroner, was rather fond of me, as was most of the department. I was good at my job and they appreciated that.”

“Did they find anything while investigating?” Hannah asked.

“No. He didn’t leave prints. They found very little in the way of forensics on Will’s car. I had only kept a few of the letters—the ones mentioning Will by name. They told me they couldn’t get anything from them.”

Hannah flicked a gaze up at Jack, who nodded. They’d have Tosh place a call to the police in Armagh.

“When he got out of the hospital, Will left.”

“Oh, Merlin,” Hannah said.

Merlin’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, he didn’t leave _me_ ; he left for Dublin for rehab on his legs. We kept in touch by letters and the phone, but I couldn’t afford to leave my job to be with him.” He shrugged. “But I don’t blame you for thinking he was fed up and left me; it’s what the stalker thought.”

“I take it the…attention didn’t stop after Will ‘left’?” Jack asked.

“No. His letters became less persistent; like he was trying to let me have a period of mourning. I saved them and gave them to the police, but he never claimed responsibility for Will’s accident or made any threats. And he still seemed to revel in forensics counter-measures.”

“Don’t worry, Merlin. There isn’t a forensic counter-measure that Tosh can’t grind to dust under her pointy heels,” Hannah said. “We’ll get him.”

Merlin smiled and pulled his sleeves down over his hands. Hannah had known him long enough to recognize the movement as a protective gesture.

“It’s okay, Merlin. Tell us,” Jack said, reading Merlin’s body language. 

“After a month—which I can only guess he deemed to be the appropriate mourning period—he began making demands. Why didn’t I respond in some way? Let him know that I now realized I was meant to be with him? Did I want him to—” Merlin choked. He took a deep breath, then lifted his head to meet Hannah’s gaze. “Did I want him to prove himself?”

Hannah struggled to keep her personal life in check; she wanted nothing more than to wrap Merlin in her arms and protect him. “When did the first body show up, Merlin?” she asked softly.

“Two months after Will’s brakes went out. I didn’t understand at first. I mean, the body met Will’s general description; but average height, average weight, brown hair and blue eyes fits most of the population. I mean, you can’t get ‘cheeky smile’ or ‘adorable dimples’ from a corpse,” Merlin said, trying to lighten the mood.

His attempt failed miserably when he bit his lip to keep from crying.

“Merlin, love, it’s all right. Tell us however you can,” Hannah said, putting her arm around Merlin’s shoulders. Professionalism be damned; he was one of theirs.

“It wasn’t until the fourth body that I started to get the hint. And then it was only because the sick bastard carved my initials into the body.”

“Jesus, Merlin. Why didn’t you tell us?” Jack said.

“Gee, sorry. Hello, my name is Merlin Emrys. I’m the new assistant coroner and your partner’s roommate. And, oh, by the way, some sicko killed six men in my name,” Merlin said.

“Jack didn’t mean to sound like an asshole, Merlin. He meant to sound like a detective. If you had told us, we could have looked into it; made sure you were safe,” Hannah said.

“I just…I thought it was over after…”

“After?” Jack prompted.

“After he murdered Will.”  
*****

“Fuck,” Jack said, leaning back against the closed door. 

“I know,” Hannah replied.

They stood outside the interrogation room, after having heard Merlin tell the tale of the sixth and final body the stalker had left—Will Ealdor, bloody and broken and in Merlin’s bed. A week after, Gaius had arranged for Merlin’s transfer to London. Two weeks later, Merlin was presumably lost in the hustle and bustle of London and safely ensconced in Hannah’s flat.

“All right,” Jack said, clapping his hands once. “We have to call Ianto to make sure he knows about this. When we catch this guy, I don’t want there to be any loophole for him to sneak out of.”

Hannah nodded. “I’ll go let Noble know, then head over to the coroner’s.”

Jack grabbed her elbow. “Wait a minute. One of us has to call Ianto.”

“You’re the one in love with him; you do it.”

“I am not—look, I had to call him the last time we had bad news.”

“Yes, and you got to tell him about Babylon’s arrest this morning. He’s probably still happy about that. So you should call him.”

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Jack suggested.

“Deal.”

“Just rock, paper, scissors, then,” Jack said. “No lizard or Spock.”

Hannah nodded. They did a three count, Jack going with rock and Hannah holding her hand palm down, her fingers wriggling.

“I said no lizard or Spock!”

“You said nothing about Cthulhu,” Hannah stated.

“ _Fine_. I’ll call him.”

Hannah smiled and went back into the room.

“Merlin?” she said as she entered.

Merlin lifted his head off the table and turned red-rimmed eyes to her.

“I’m going to go let DI Noble know what’s going on. Will you be all right here until I get back?”

“I’d really like to get to work.”

“Merlin, you can’t be involved in this autopsy. You’re, well, evidence.”

“There are plenty of other bodies I can work with. I can’t just sit here, Hannah. I’ll go mad.”

She sat down next to him. “I understand. I really do. One day, I may even tell you.”

Merlin huffed.

“But, for now, go report to Bones. Don’t go anywhere near this morning’s body, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he replied.  
****

“Ianto?”

“Make it fast,” Ianto replied without looking up from the file in front of him.

“DS Harkness is on the line. He said you’re not picking up your mobile and it’s urgent,” Arthur replied.

“Why are you answering the phone?”

“Mae’s at lunch.”

Ianto looked at his watch. “Damn.” He reached over and picked up the phone. “Jones.”

Arthur watched as Ianto listened to Harkness, his eyes narrowing. 

“Is he all right? Okay. Yeah, at Hannah’s tonight,” he said, then hung up.

“Everything all right?” Arthur asked.

“Not by a long shot. You don’t have any plans for tonight do you?”

“Er, no?”

“Good. You, Arthur Penn, are coming to your first round table.”  
****

“Put that scalpel down!”

Merlin made a ‘meep’ noise and dropped his scalpel before turning around to face the person who had shouted.

Dr. Sarah Jane Smith—‘Bones’ since the day she had angrily told a cheeky DS that, damn it, she was a doctor, not a mortician—hurried over to him. 

“Er, a Y-incision?” Merlin replied.

“I just got off the phone with Harkness. You shouldn’t even be here.”

Merlin sighed. “I am perfectly capable of keeping my nose out of the case. If Harkness and Hannah can catch him, I don’t want there to be any way he can weasel out of it.”

She put her hands on his shoulders. “I know that, Merlin. Why don’t you go home and rest? This must be very traumatic for you. I know you thought you had left everything behind.”

Merlin smiled softly, trying not to squirm. Bones had been the only person to know what had happened to him in Armagh. She was the aunt of his best friend and a former protégé of Gaius’; she had been only too happy to give Merlin a position in her lab.

“Merlin?” she prompted.

“I’m more use here. Home, I’ll just dwell. Here, I can be useful. Please, Bones.”

Her gaze softened and she smiled, squeezing his shoulders. “All right. _But_ you are waiting for Hannah to come pick you up before going home.”

Merlin opened his mouth to protest, then realized that would be stupid. “I can live with that.”

“Good. Back to work, then, Merlin. That man won’t determine his cause of death on his own.”  
*****

“Special delivery,” Hannah said as she entered the forensics lab.

“For me?” Teddy Altman—Elf to everyone else and his own chagrin—asked.

Hannah smiled at her former flatmate, whose blond fringe was pushed up by his round goggles, giving him a mad scientist look. 

“Who else would I bring a bullet to?” she asked.

“Morgan, Stewart, Haw—”

Hannah held up a hand to cut him off. “You’re the best. And you know it, so hush and go work your magic,” she said, handing him the evidence container and shooing him off as she headed for Tosh’s office.

“No. That is not what I’m saying. I’m saying,” Tosh paused in her phone conversation to wave at Hannah. “I’m saying that the killer has moved and I would like the evidence transferred for comparison. No, I don’t think that—hey, now. That is uncalled for! Fine, I was trying to be _polite_ , but I’ll let the DS deal with you!” she yelled, finishing the call with a spate of Japanese before slamming the phone down.

Hannah looked at her friend. “That sounded like something disparaging about his mother.”

Tosh ran her hands over her face and laughed. “His father, actually. You know the golden rule.”

“ _Never_ talk about Mom.”

“Exactly. What can I do for you?”

Hannah shrugged. “Brought Elf a bullet from the body this morning. Jack should be along with the clothes for trace soon. Why didn’t you put me on the phone with Armagh?”

“ _You_ would have said something about his mother.”


	2. Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a round table. Merlin is grateful, Hannah is embarrassing, Jack and Ianto are snarky, Teddy is insightful and Arthur is...not really all that much of a prat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait a few days to post again, but I got inspired...

**Part II**  
“I’m not fragile,” Merlin said into the silence of the car.

Hannah shot a quick look at him, then turned her attention back to the road. The rest of her day had, shockingly, followed routine. She and Jack had interviewed the girl who had dialed 999. The girl had flirted shamelessly with Jack and, when she had shown up, the girl’s mother had also shamelessly flirted with him. While the exchanges had been entertaining to watch, they had yielded nothing useful to the investigation. 

Jack had then turned his considerable charms to convince the DI in charge of the case in Armagh to hand over the files. It took a lot of work—mostly on Hannah’s part, as she was forbidden from laughing during the phone call and Jack made the most _adorable_ faces when he was fed up with bureaucracy—but they had received electronic copies of everything a few hours ago. 

Noble had finally let them go for the day and Hannah had made her way to the morgue to take Merlin home. Merlin had been quiet since she’d picked him up. She had been waiting him out; she knew he’d talk when he was ready.

“I know I look it, but I’m not.”

“I know,” she said softly.

“I can handle this. I mean, it’s not that I won’t accept help, but I don’t need to be mollycoddled.”

Hannah snorted.

“What?”

“Who the hell says ‘mollycoddled’?”

“I do!” Merlin said, then found himself chuckling at her mirth.

“You’re going to be just fine, Merlin. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said, reaching out to squeeze his arm.

“They’re all coming to ours tonight, aren’t they?”

“Your first round table, Merlin. I feel so proud.”  
****

Arthur stared down at the address on the piece of paper in his hand. Ianto had written it down in his elegant scrawl just before sending Arthur out to do trial prep while he “made some inquiries”. Arthur hadn’t seen him again before leaving for the day, but had heard Ianto shouting, “7:00!” at him as he left the office.

He looked back up at the door and lifted his fist to knock. The flat was in a very posh building and, from what he could tell, was one of only two on this floor. The doorman had eyed him suspiciously, but when he gave the apartment number, the man had just laughed and wished him luck before directing him to the lift.

He finally knocked and waited moments before the door was opened by a woman with hair of a slightly lighter blonde than his own and frosty green eyes.

“I don’t know you,” she said.

“Er, I’m Arthur Penn. I work for the Crow—”

Her eyes instantly warmed and she smiled at him. “Oh! You’re Ianto’s new Martha! I’m Hannah. Come on in,” she said, stepping back to allow him entry.

“Thank you,” he said.

She grinned as she took in his attire while closing the door behind him. “Ianto didn’t tell you this wasn’t business dress, did he?”

He looked down at his button-down shirt, tie and slacks. He had left the suit coat in the car. Hannah was wearing jeans, a vintage CBGB t-shirt and no shoes.

“Um, no.”

“He’s kind of a bastard like that,” she said, nodding. “Although, he’ll tell you he was distracted. This way,” she finished, taking his arm and leading him into the living room.

Arthur paused in the archway to stare at the barely controlled chaos in the living room. It seemed that at least four different conversations were going on among the half-dozen people in the room.

“That’s Jack Harkness, my partner, arguing with Ianto. Toshiko Sato is talking to Sarah Jane Smith—we call her Bones—and Elf, who will tell you it’s Teddy. And Merlin is the bewildered looking man in the armchair,” Hannah said, pushing Arthur forward and steering him to another armchair.

Arthur watched as Hannah sat on the arm of Merlin’s chair. He settled back, trying to make sense of all the conversations going on around him. He found his gaze continually drawn back to Merlin, whom he caught looking at him a few times.

“Did I miss anything?” Hannah asked Merlin quietly.

“Ianto called Jack a pillock. That’s pretty much it,” he replied. “Who’s he?”

“Arthur Penn. Ianto’s co-worker. The gang’s all here now,” she said, shaking her head as Jack began to argue with Ianto and Tosh simultaneously.

Teddy set his drink down, put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly.

Everyone stopped talking and stared at him.

“Good. Now, what do we think, what do we know and what can we prove?” Teddy asked.

Merlin gave Hannah a mildly shocked look. Of all the people in the room to run this thing, he hadn’t expected it to be the diminutive firearms specialist.

Hannah smiled at him. “Teddy tends to take over when it’s important. It’s a thing. Go with it.”

Merlin nodded.

“Arthur, glad you made it,” Ianto said, noticing his colleague.

“ _That’s_ something we can prove,” Hannah said.

Teddy flipped her off.

Jack laughed, but leaned back against the mantle to watch the action. Tosh and Sarah Jane settled themselves on the sofa with Ianto between them.

“Merlin’s stalker has followed him here and is killing again,” Hannah said, getting the ball rolling.

“Think or prove?” Teddy challenged, settling on the floor beside the coffee table.

“Know,” Merlin said softly. He looked up at the group. “I _know_ it’s him.”

“But can we prove it?” Jack asked.

Merlin opened his mouth, prepared to argue that he could _feel_ it. That once you had been touched by something like this, you didn’t forget the feeling—like thick oil cloying over your skin and coating your tongue. Then he realized that, aside from Bones and perhaps Hannah, he didn’t know these people well enough to admit something like that. 

Hannah reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Tosh?”

“I finally got through to someone with a brain. A nice young woman named Guinevere said she’d get me everything I wanted and told me to tell you that you have an arse-kicking coming your way,” Tosh said, looking at Merlin.

Merlin smiled. Guinevere Leodegrance had been his friend since kindergarten. She had worked in forensics in Armagh; there wasn’t anything she didn’t know about edged weapons.

Teddy nodded. “I ran the bullet from today’s body; it’s a ballistics match.”

“So we can prove it,” Arthur said.

Ianto shook his head. “We can prove it’s the same gun; we can’t put it in the same hand for all the killings.”

“Put the guy in the box with me and I’ll get it in his hand,” Jack said.

Ianto gave Arthur a sharp look. “You didn’t hear that.”

Arthur snorted. “Obviously.” He tried not to smile at the looks of approval that comment garnered him. However, when he caught Merlin looking at him with a soft expression, he couldn’t help but smile at the man. He grinned at Merlin’s resulting blush.

Hannah smiled inwardly as she watched the two men. “Elf, grab the boards. I’ve got file copies for everyone,” she said, standing up. She went to the coffee table and picked up files and distributed them, followed by notebooks and pens for everyone. 

Arthur and Merlin watched, bewildered, as everyone else cracked open a file and began taking notes as they read. Arthur quickly followed suit, but Merlin sat watching this group of people who had just enfolded him and taken up his cause as though he’d been there forever.

Teddy rolled out a dry erase board and a cork board (which answered Merlin’s question of why those items were in the spare room) and set them in front of the fireplace before settling down at the coffee table with his own copy of the file.

Hannah sat on the floor beside Merlin. “I know it’s hard, but we need you to look at the case file and tell us what they’re missing,” she said to him.

“But I—”

She put her hand on his knee and squeezed. “I know you’re not a detective. But you lived this case and you’re going to have knowledge and impressions that aren’t in these files. We’re going to need those to make this work.”

“She’s right,” Jack said without looking up from his reading.

Hannah leaned in to Merlin. “And you know that had to _hurt_ to admit,” she whispered.

Merlin gave her a weak smile.

“I have pens in every color imaginable,” she said.

Merlin laughed and let her cajole him into taking part in the activities.  
*****

“Okay,” Jack said, clapping his hands once. 

They’d been working quietly for about an hour, which Merlin guessed was probably the silence limit for this group.

“So, we have a short list of possible suspects,” Jack began.

Hannah nodded, flipping through her notes. “You want to take that list or the ones they cleared outright?” she asked Jack.

“If they were cleared outright, why are you going to look at them again?” Merlin asked.

“Hannah and Jack don’t trust anyone to do their job as well as they do,” Ianto explained.

“And you’ve got the conviction rate to prove it,” Hannah said, eyebrow raised.

“Anyway,” Tosh continued, “if this guy’s still out there, that means he was so far off the grid the first time that he didn’t even ping their radar.”

“Or they missed something,” Jack finished.

“I’ll take cleared outright,” Hannah said.

“Where do we start?” Arthur asked.

“We’ll run a check to see if anyone from the cleared and short lists have recently located—either to London or parts unknown,” Jack replied.

Hannah squeezed Merlin’s knee and gave him a small smile before she turned her attention back to the file.

Merlin spent a few minutes trying to read the brutal details of the most painful time in his life. He felt tears itching at the back of his throat and closed the folder, taking a deep breath. He looked around the room, taking in the scene of all these people who had come together to help him. Jack shook his head as he read something in the interrogation transcripts while pacing the room; Tosh frowned around the pen in her mouth at something in the forensics report; Sarah Jane had the autopsy diagrams spread on the coffee table in front of her; Hannah growled low in her throat at something she read; Ianto paced as he studied the reports, being very careful to avoid Jack’s route and gesturing hands; Teddy was absently tapping out a rhythm with his left hand as he took notes with his right; and Arthur…

Arthur was staring right at him, a concerned look on his face.

Merlin set his folder down and stood up. “I’ll just make some tea.”

“Coffee,” Hannah and Jack requested in unison.

Merlin nodded and continued his trek into the kitchen.

He was staring at the kettle when he heard the sound of coffee beans being poured into the grinder. He turned, expecting to see Hannah, and was surprised to find Arthur there.

“Thought you could use some help. It’s a lot of mugs and paraphernalia to handle,” Arthur said, smiling.

Merlin tried to talk himself out of finding the crooked smile endearing. Unfortunately, he’d never been very good at winning an argument with himself.

“Thank you,” he said.

“We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m Arthur Penn,” he said, holding out his hand.

Hannah had told him as much, but Merlin saw no reason to be rude. “Merlin Emrys,” he said, shaking Arthur’s hand. “Sorry you got dragged into all this.”

Arthur shrugged. “First day, when your supervisor tells you to be somewhere, you go.”

“Right. Of course. Sorry for imposing.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that. I was intrigued, and now that I’m here, I’m a little amazed.”

“All this attention for someone like me?” Merlin snapped.

“You are just bound and determined to make me out as some great prat, aren’t you?” Arthur asked, but smiled as he did so.

Merlin took a deep breath. He was stressed and scared, and he was being unfair.

“Sorry. It’s just…having to relive all this and have everyone out there staring into my past is a little overwhelming. I mean, I don’t know most of them that well. What must they—must you—think of me now?”

Arthur really looked at Merlin, reassessing him. He certainly wasn’t fragile, as Arthur had at first presumed. Vulnerable, yes, but there was a fire in his eyes.

“I think you’re someone who had something horrible happen to you. I think you survived it and it’s a damn shame you have to face it again. I think there’s something about you, Merlin.”

Merlin just stared at him.

“Merlin, don’t forget to treat your nipple,” Hannah said as she entered the kitchen.

Arthur nearly dropped the grinder in shock.

Merlin sighed even as he turned purple. He didn’t know whether to thank Hannah for the interruption or curse her for ruining the moment.

“Arthur, you gonna grind those beans or spend all night watching Merlin?” Hannah asked.

“Sorry,” Arthur muttered, turning on the grinder.

“We’re ordering take away. Chinese all right?” 

Merlin and Arthur nodded.

“Good,” Hannah said, then left as quickly as she’d entered.

“You’ll have to forgive her,” Merlin said. “Hannah knows what ‘tact’ means; she just doesn’t think the word applies to her.”

“She is something,” Arthur agreed, looking out the door after Hannah. He was thinking how much she reminded him of his sister, Morgana.

 _Of course_ , Merlin thought, watching Arthur look after Hannah. _They’re both blond and gorgeous. Makes sense._

He was still beating himself up mentally for even considering Arthur might be a) gay and b) attracted to him when Arthur turned back to him.

“What’s going on with your nipple?” Arthur asked as he set the coffee to brew.

“Oh, erm…Hannah insisted we go do something to bond as roommates. It started out with drinks and before I knew it, we’re in a tattoo and piercing parlor her friend runs.”

“Ah. So you got your nipples pierced.”

Merlin nodded as he took the kettle off the hob. “No. Well, I got one of my nipples pierced. Hannah did her bellybutton. Something about not wanting milk to shoot out everywhere if she ever breastfeeds.”

“Wow. Overshare.”

Merlin laughed. “You should have seen the hand motions that went with the explanation.”

“So, which nipple?”

Merlin choked. “I don’t think I know you well enough for that.”

“Something to look forward to, then.”  
*****

“What?” Jack asked as Hannah sat beside him in the living room.

“Nothing.”

“You have that look.”

“Which one?”

“You know which one. What happened?”

“Nothing. Merlin and Arthur are getting beverages ready and I ordered dinner. You’re so suspicious.”

“I’m a cop. And your partner. ‘Suspicious’ is my default by necessity.”

She grinned at him. “Don’t worry about it. It’s something good.”

“We could use something good,” Sarah Jane muttered.

“Bad news in the autopsy reports?” Tosh asked.

“For us, yes. Gaius did his usual exceptional job. There’s nothing in here I wouldn’t have looked for. However, I do have some good news. Or, terrible news, depending on how you look at it.”

“Oh?” Jack asked.

Sarah Jane flicked a quick glance at the kitchen, but Merlin and Arthur were still tucked inside. “Everything from my autopsy is consistent with the previous victim, save the tox screen, but I expect that back tomorrow and I expect it to show nothing new. And,” she bit her lip, “he carved Merlin’s initials into the man’s shoulder.”

“Put that in the ‘Know’ column, Elf,” Hannah said, her voice tight.

Teddy stood and wrote ‘autopsy’ under the Know column on the dry-erase board.

“It’s a start,” Ianto said.  
*****

Teddy shifted uncomfortably on the floor. It had nothing to do with where he was sitting; he usually chose to sprawl on the floor. No, it was the fact that they were digging through the ugly parts of someone’s past. Parts that made you squirm and strongly desire the nearest dark hole to hide in. He flicked a glance up at Merlin, who was trying to read Hannah’s notes while eating lo mein. He had recognized the pain in Merlin’s eyes the moment he had met him; had immediately understood why Hannah had given Merlin a place to live. She collected broken people like that. Collected them, healed them as best she could, then tried very had not to cry when they began to manage it all on their own. The fact that Teddy still had instruments in the “thinking room” should be in no way misconstrued as him not managing on his own. His flat had thin walls, was all.

“Stop staring, it’s rude,” Tosh whispered to him.

Teddy startled and glared at her. She gave him a mischievous grin. “So not my type,” he whispered.

Tosh rolled her eyes and went back to her own notes.

Teddy looked up and caught Arthur watching Merlin—and not for the first time.  
*****

An hour later, Tosh muttered the first words that weren’t a request for a file or a grunt in thanks for coffee.

“What about…” Tosh began.

Everyone looked to her.

“No, that won’t work,” she finished without looking up.

Teddy chuckled and went back to his own work, more than used to Tosh’s brain working faster than her mouth. He flicked a look over to Jack, who seemed to have the exact opposite problem. He gave the man a smile as Jack caught his gaze; Teddy had a sinking feeling Jack knew just what he had been thinking.  
*****

“All right, I’ll say it: now what?” Merlin asked, staring at the white board with writing all over it and the cork board covered with photos.

“Now,” Hannah said, stretching her arms over her head, “we step away from it. I’ll e-mail photos of the boards to all of you. Go home, sleep on it and we’ll look at it tomorrow.”

Merlin expected someone—Jack—to protest, but everyone stood up, gathering their notes and files and belongings. He shrugged; they must know what they were doing—Hannah had said it wasn’t their first time brainstorming like this. He stood up, shaking hands and thanking everyone as they came to him. Arthur was the last to approach him.

“Do you, um, need someone to take you home?” Arthur asked.

Merlin gave him a funny look. _Oh_. “Oh, oh, no. I live here. But…thank you.”

“Of course, right,” Arthur said, looking from Hannah to Merlin.

Feeling sympathy after his own earlier misconception of Arthur, Merlin smiled. “Hannah’s a great roommate. Doesn’t even mind if I occasionally ogle the arse of her current conquest.”

Arthur smiled. “That is a great roommate.”

“Good night, Arthur.”

“Merlin,” he said, bowing his head.

Hannah locked the door behind everyone, then walked over to Merlin and slung her arm around his neck. “So…Penn?”

Merlin blushed and shrugged her off. “I’m going to bed.”

“Sweet dreams!” she called after him.  
*****

Arthur trudged into his flat, bone tired and brain weary. The evening had been both intellectually stimulating and emotionally trying.

“Just what do you think you are doing?”

Arthur froze. His first thought wasn’t that someone had managed to gain access to his flat, but wonder that it had taken his father this long.

“Father,” Arthur greeted as he set his briefcase on the table just inside the door. He took the time to lock his door and hang up his coat before turning his attention to his father.

“This is not what I raised you for, Arthur,” Uther Penn said. He stood in Arthur’s living room, a glass of (by his tastes) sub-par brandy in his hand. He had been waiting for his son for hours; which had managed to only add fire to his anger.

Arthur sighed. “I am aware.”

“So just what the bloody hell are you doing?”

“Making my own way,” he replied, moving to pour himself a glass of brandy. “ _Not_ trading on my name to gain political position.”

Uther scoffed. “You don’t think your name got you where you are today?”

Arthur gave him his best innocent look. “Whatever are you implying, father?”

“You know what I am implying. There is no possible way you would have been appointed to the place you now hold if it weren’t for John Smith’s perverse sense of revenge. You are not ready for the post you hold and you only have it so he can embarrass _me_.”

Arthur contemplated his brandy. He could play this game with his father; he’d had years of doing so. Or, he could take his own road, a more adult road, and just be done with this nonsense.

“Yes. I knew my name would pique Smith’s interest. But I am _not_ going to fail, Father. I am very good at what I do. I am intelligent and ambitious and I _will_ make my own name. I don’t know exactly what your problem is with Smith. He couldn’t possibly have stolen the love of your life from you, because Mother married you. And as he is a solicitor, he cannot be responsible for being unable to save her life as she brought me into this world. So what, exactly, is your quarrel with him?”

Uther paled. “That is none of your concern.”

“Then it is not something we should bring up when discussing my career choices.” He sighed. “I am tired of this, Father. I did not go into politics because I do not like talking in circles. Yes, I used your name to ensure I’d be placed where I could do the most good. But whether I rise or fall, succeed or fail, is now on my shoulders, not yours. So I would thank you to keep your issues with Mr. Smith to yourself.”

“One day in his clutches and you are already beginning to regard me with contempt.”

“Oh, no, Father. I have regarded you with at least some contempt for years. I am merely finally taking the time to vocalize it.”

Uther slammed down his glass and stormed to the coat rack, retrieving his long leather coat. With a last glare at Arthur, he left the flat, the door slamming behind him.

Arthur took a sip of his brandy and grimaced. “Still, better than his reaction to the fact I wouldn’t be marrying and siring a bunch of little Penns.”


	3. Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin gets a delivery and Tosh is awesome.

**Part III**  
“You have to admit, this is a _little_ ridiculous,” Merlin groused, arms folded across his chest.

“No, ridiculous would be strip searching you for a tracking device of some sort. Calling in forensics to run tests on an envelope that mysteriously showed up in your work area is _cautious_ ,” Hannah corrected. 

Merlin growled at her.

Jack laughed. “That sounded more like a purr than a growl. Were you trying to scare her?”

“Right now, in this moment, I hate you both,” Merlin replied.

“I could wrap you up in a big hug and kiss your forehead in front of all your colleagues; then you could _really_ hate me,” Hannah said.

“That’s all right. I’m perfectly happy with my current level of hate.”

Hannah squeezed his shoulder. “It’s just a precaution. Look on the bright side; if it is _him_ , our team gets a fresh crack at the letter. If there’s anyone in the world who can find a trace of your stalker, it’s Tosh and Elf.”

“She’s right,” Jack said.

“But Tosh’s specialty is weaponry and Teddy’s is ballistics,” Merlin said, pulling the sleeves of his jumper down over his hands.

“That may be; but Tosh knows everything. And you have to know she made sure Teddy’s background was sound before she hired him,” Hannah assured him. 

“How did she manage to get hiring a Yank past the higher-ups?” Merlin asked, trying to distract himself. “I mean, you two I understand, but Teddy?”

Jack shrugged. “We needed a ballistics expert and Tosh wanted him. And what Toshiko Sato wants, she gets. She is, without a doubt, the scariest woman you will ever meet.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow. “Scarier than Hannah? Not possible.”

Hannah mock glared at him. “I don’t know whether to be pleased or to smack you upside the head.”

“Oh, allow me to smack him. _Please_ ,” said a new voice.

Hannah and Jack whirled around, each using a hand to push Merlin behind them. They saw a lovely young woman with dark curls fanning around her face. She was wearing a very smart suit and carrying a briefcase. She smiled as she lifted the visitor’s badge attached to her lapel.

“I’m Guinevere Leodegrance. Dr. Sato is expecting me,” she said.

“Guin!” Merlin said, pushing out from behind his de facto bodyguards. He ran over to Guinevere and wrapped her in a tight embrace. She wrapped one arm around his waist as the other held on to her briefcase. She buried her face in Merlin’s neck.

“You insane duck,” she murmured.

Merlin smiled as he pulled back and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.

She punched him in the arm. “You scared me! I had to hear from your co-workers about this? Are your fingers broken?” she asked, lifting his hand. “Nope.”

Hannah and Jack tried very hard to cover their laughter.

Tosh opened the door and stared at the interesting tableau. “We’ve got it under a hood now for opening,” she told them. “We’re ready for you,” she said before disappearing back into the lab.

Jack held the door open for them. “Care to join us, Miss Leodegrance?”

“Well, I _do_ need to see Dr. Smith, but I can take care of my business with Dr. Sato first,” she said, following Hannah and Merlin into the room.

“I still think we should have let the bomb squad check it over first,” Teddy said as Tosh peered through the clear protective barrier of the hood.

“It’s not a bomb squad,” Tosh corrected absently.

Teddy rolled his eyes. “You can call them the men in the funky-ass suits for all I care. We should have waited.”

“Radiation and other tests came back negative,” Tosh replied dismissively. “I brought it up myself in containment and I am, as you can see, still in one piece.”

“Fine. But if you open that and we blow up, don’t think that just because we’re in the afterlife it means I won’t say, ‘I told you so.’”

“Ah, but will you do the dance?” Hannah asked as she joined them.

“If she gets us blown up, I will sing _and_ dance,” Teddy replied.

Hannah slung an arm around his shoulders. “That’s my Elf. Tosh, you ready to do the honors?”

Tosh nodded, her arms already sliding into the protective sleeves.

Merlin was torn between stepping closer to get a good look and staying as far as he possibly could from that envelope. He sensed movement near him and turned his head to see that Hannah and Guinevere had moved to flank him. He supposed that later, he’d have to have a talk with them about his ability to protect himself; but for now, he was grateful for their support.

They watched as Tosh carefully slit the envelope open and extracted the letter inside. She set the letter aside and upended the envelope. “Nothing,” she said.

“So, we can crack open the hood, then?” Jack asked.

“Yes. But no one except Elf touches anything until we have it processed,” she said as she took the letter and envelope out of the hood and set them beside it on the lab table.

Jack deliberately put his hands in his pockets as he walked around to look over her shoulder. She shot a glare at him.

“Merlin, would you prefer to read it first?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “You’ll all see it anyway. I think we’re beyond any need for privacy.”

Hannah snorted and Merlin blushed. How the hell was he supposed to know that she’d be walking down the hall while he was in the shower that morning? Thank the gods he had managed to bite his lip before shouting Arthur’s name as he brought himself off. The wink she gave him as she moved to stand beside Tosh clearly told him names were unnecessary; she knew _exactly_ whom he had been picturing.

“Anyway,” Jack said, nudging Tosh with his elbow.

“My dear Merlin,” she began. “I—”

“Stop!” Merlin said sharply.

They all looked up at him, Guinevere putting a hand on his arm.

“I’m sorry, I just. I can’t hear _him_ with your voice,” he said.

Tosh nodded. “Teddy, hit the lights.”

Teddy nodded and flipped a switch beneath the table, which lit up the lights underneath. Tosh set the letter down under the camera, so it would be projected onto the wall, where they could all read it.

**_My dear Merlin,  
I expect you are anticipating a “Hah! Found you!”, but the truth is, I have been with you every step of your journey from Armagh. I waited for you, watching every day, wondering if this would be the day for us. But you either could not or would not see me. After all I have done for you, I cannot believe it is that you would not see me. I therefore had to do something to make you see me. I knew you would recognize me when you saw him. My gift to you, Merlin. Your mourning period is over; this is the first of my courting gifts._ **

**_I am ever,  
Yours_ **

Merlin shivered as he finished reading the letter. He reached back and found Guinevere’s hand, clutching it in his own.

“He’s been here the whole time,” Jack said softly to Hannah.

She nodded. “He should have stayed in Armagh. You don’t _do_ this shit in my town.”

“Not to one of ours.”

“All right,” Tosh said, her voice cutting through the tension. “You’ve all read it. Go do whatever it is all of you do that _doesn’t_ involve being in my lab.

“Before you go, I have something you’ll be interested in,” Guinevere said, squeezing Merlin’s hand before walking over to a table. She set her briefcase down and opened it. She pulled out a file and spread out three photos of a body. “These are copies of photos of the, er, carving on yesterday’s body. Dr. Sato was kind enough to e-mail them to me,” she said, sending Tosh a small smile.

They crowded around the table, with Tosh next to Guinevere and Jack, and Hannah and Teddy on either side of Merlin. 

“I compared the photos with my own files and notes from the Armagh murders. From just the pictures, I’d say it’s the same weapon. Now, if I can make a cast from the body, I’ll be able to tell better. If we’re lucky, he cut into the scapula, which will hold the tool marks better than flesh,” Guinevere said.

“I’ll get Bones to clear you. Merlin can take you over,” Tosh said, leaning in to look.

Guinevere took another file out of her briefcase. “These are copies for you. Unfortunately, you can’t examine the bodies from Armagh for yourself; but here are my notes and I have a box with my casts and other evidence upstairs with the desk clerk. I can get them down and let you at them.”

“Thank you. The sooner we have those, the better chance we’ll have to get this bastard.”

“My thoughts exactly. Mr. Altman, I have files, photos and bullets for you. He only shot two of our victims, but you may see something our ballistics people missed.”

Teddy grinned as she handed the briefcase over to him.

“Dr. Sato, shall we get started on this bastard?” Guinevere asked.

“Absolutely,” Tosh replied, her eyes alight. “Teddy, get started on the letter. The ballistics can wait; the forensics on that cannot.”

Guinevere raised an eyebrow. “I do believe that’s the first time I’ve seen scene of crime put something ahead of ballistics,” she said happily.

“Tosh doesn’t like firearms,” Teddy explained. “They lack a certain elegance found in knives.”

“Or a good throttling instrument,” Tosh added.

Guinevere laughed. “Well, with my background, I can’t say as I disagree with you. Now, do you have an area where I can start stabbing things with exemplars?” she asked Tosh.

The others watched as the two women walked toward Tosh’s office, talking excitedly about edged weapons.

“She’s _magnificent_ ,” Teddy breathed.

“You think that’s impressive? You should meet her husband,” Merlin said, smirking.

Hannah whapped Merlin up the back of the head. “Do _not_ tease the bear,” she said.

Jack rolled his eyes, secretly happy that things were at least somewhat normal in the face of the letter still shining at them from the wall. “Come on, Merlin. We’ll drop you with Bones on our way back.”

“He can stay,” Teddy said as he leaned over the letter. “I have a feeling Guinevere will want to talk to him and he can take her to Bones.” He lifted his head and met Hannah’s gaze with a _look_.

She nodded her understanding and grabbed Jack’s arm. “Come on, hot stuff. You can call Ianto and tell him all about this new development,” she said as she dragged him toward the exit.

“No way. I called him yesterday.”

“Chicken,” Teddy heard Hannah say as the door shut behind the duo.


	4. Part IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Breakthroughs are made, Hannah is overprotective and Tosh and Teddy silently plot.

**Part IV**  
“Yes, I realize it’s not your fault. Yes, I know. All right, I’ll stop yelling at you. Yes, I’m calm. Okay, I’ll tell Arthur. Are we meeting tonight? Good, I have trial prep. Let me know if anything else comes up,” Ianto said before hanging up his phone.

Arthur gave him a worried look. “Please tell me that wasn’t about Parkinson.”

Ianto shook his head. “Worse. Merlin.”

Arthur’s heart skipped a beat. “What happened?”

Ianto filed the stricken look on Arthur’s face away for a better time. “A letter arrived for Merlin at the lab.”

“Not just a regular piece of post, then.”

“No. In fact, it appears to have been hand-delivered. It showed up on his desk this morning. Bones and Merlin called Tosh, who brought it back to her lab under containment. She and Teddy are working it up now.”

“Where’s Merlin?”

“At the lab with Tosh and Teddy.”

“They left him alone without protection?” Arthur asked, standing and reaching for his jacket.

“ _Sit_ down,” Ianto said, his tone brooking no argument.

Arthur did as he was told.

“He is perfectly safe in the lab. Let me assure you that, _should_ something happen, Tosh can more than handle it. He’s safe as houses there,” Ianto assured him.

“It’s part of the bloody police department and this guy got in.”

“And Hannah and Jack are running down employee records right now. Tosh has Teddy working up the letter and Tosh is checking the surveillance feeds. They will find this guy, arrest him and you and I will put him away for a very, very long time,” Ianto said calmly.

“He got away with it in Armagh; what makes you think it’ll be different this time?”

Ianto raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that to me.”

Arthur blew out a breath, ruffling his fringe. “It’s just…so fast.”

Ianto nodded. “It is and it isn’t. You can’t look at this as a new spree. It’s a continuation. Events forced him into an unnatural cooling period. Now that he is free to pursue Merlin again, he’s just picked up where he left off.”

“‘Cooling period’? You sound like one of those profilers.”

“I did some coursework in psychology. And Hannah has made me watch a lot of true crime shows with her.”

“She’s an interesting woman. Reminds me of my sister.”

“She’s a bloody menace,” Ianto said with affection.

“Like I said.”

Ianto smiled. “Look, I know we want to help Merlin. But there isn’t even anything, officially, for us to do now. Parkinson, on the other hand, starts trial tomorrow.”

“Right,” Arthur replied, picking up the file he had dropped on Ianto’s desk. “I take it Hannah said we’re not meeting tonight?”

“She wants to give Merlin some time to process. Which means she’s going to tie him to the sofa, make him watch mindless telly and feed him lots of random homemade dishes.”

“She won’t literally tie him down, will she?”

“Depends on how much he protests being force-fed calm.”

“Maybe we should launch a rescue mission?”

Ianto looked at Arthur. Obviously, the young man had no idea what he was dealing with when it came to Hannah Summers-Fogg. Sadly—or entertainingly, depending on your view—there was really only one way for Arthur to learn.

“What you do with your time once we’re ready for the first day of trial is up to you,” he said, pulling his legal pad closer to him.  
*****

“Whose _brilliant_ idea was it to demand all our surveillance tapes for Dr. Sato without bothering to either ask or inform me before I had my arse chewed out by my boss?” Donna Noble demanded, her hands on her hips.

Jack and Hannah looked across their desks at each other, a silent conversation happening in a matter of moments.

“We thought she would be busy with the letter for a while longer. We didn’t realize she would request the video right away,” Jack said, smiling.

“Really? It didn’t occur to you that _Toshiko Sato_ would multi-task?”

“Er, I hadn’t had my coffee yet?”

Donna placed both hands on Jack’s desk and leaned forward. Jack instinctively leaned back in his chair. He liked and respected his boss, but she was really scary when she was pissed. He knew he and Hannah sometimes exasperated and even annoyed her, but they very rarely saw her pissed at them. He had a bad feeling he was about to experience one of those rare moments.

“ _Do not_ give me any reason to pull the two of you from this case. By rights, you shouldn’t be anywhere near it because Dr. Emrys lives with Fogg. But you two are my best team and, for reasons unfathomable to me, Fogg has friends in very high places. Do not make me have to give this case to a less qualified team. If I do, this monster may not be caught as quickly. And that will be on your heads,” she said, her sharp gaze flicking over to Hannah as she spoke.

“Yes, ma’am,” Hannah said.

Jack nodded in agreement, swallowing hard.

Donna nodded, stood up straight and walked back to her office.

“And you say _Tosh_ is the scariest woman alive,” Hannah muttered.

“Noble could kill us and make it look like an accident. _Tosh_ could kill us and make it look like we ran off to Aruba together.”

“Point.”

“Do you really think she doesn’t know why you have friends in high places?” Jack asked.

Hannah snorted. “She knows. She just doesn’t understand. Neither do I, half the time,” she muttered.  
*****

“You buggering, bollocking, buggered piece of bollocks!” Tosh growled at the monitor in front of her.

“Wow. And I thought ‘fuck’ had a lot of uses,” Teddy said from the doorway.

She pushed her glasses up and rubbed her face. “Tell me you have something,” she said, turning in her chair to face him.

“I have something. A very small something, but something nonetheless,” he said, holding a piece of paper out to her.

She leapt out of her chair and snatched it out of his hand. Her excitement faltered slightly as she read.

“Like I said, a very small something,” Teddy said.

“It’s a start. Okay, start poring through the reports and see if this showed up anywhere in the Armagh cases.”

“Should we tell the others?”

“Not yet. Let’s not get their hopes up. Have we heard anything from the coroner’s office?”

“Guinevere and Merlin made it there safely. Bones threatened to lock Merlin in her office with reports if he didn’t stop trying to help Guinevere,” Teddy replied, smiling.

“Anything else?”

“Guinevere is working on the cast from the wound now; once she has it, she’ll head back our way and help out here. Anything from the surveillance cameras?”

“Nothing but the norm—police, techs and the cleaning crew. Everyone appropriately badged; we’ll run a check anyway, though. As Merlin isn’t the head of his department, there’s no camera directed solely at his desk, so we don’t know exactly when the letter was placed. Sometime between when he left yesterday and when he came in this morning. So about 12 hours of leeway,” she said, frustrated.

“This is so much easier on television,” Teddy said.

“Don’t make me smack you.”

“ _You_ are spending far too much time with Hannah.”

“Speaking of, has she called another round table for tonight?”

“No. She wants to give Merlin some space.”

“Which means she’s going to smother him with normalcy, put him to bed and then lock herself up with the boards.”

“Want a ride over?” Teddy asked, smirking.

“I do adore you, Teddy,” Tosh said.

He grinned before going back out to work with the reports Guinevere had brought them.  
*****

“Anaphylactic shock. She was allergic to her antibiotics,” Merlin said as he sat down in Sarah Jane’s office.

“Who?” she replied, not looking up from the file she was reading.

“Janine Grey. I just finished her autopsy. No foul play; she went into anaphylactic shock and fell into the river, hitting her head on a rock as she went. Tragic and accidental. Who’s next?”

Sarah Jane dropped the file and looked at him closely.

“What?” Merlin asked, leaning back in his chair. He didn’t like the scrutinizing stare; it reminded him too much of Gaius.

“I’m trying to decide if the detachment is normal detachment, normal genius detachment or you trying very hard to not let me see how this morning’s letter is affecting you.”

“What’s the diagnosis?”

She smiled. “A little from Column B and a little from Column C.”

“That is far more vague than you allow the rest of us to get away with.”

“Perks of being the boss.” She turned in her chair and reached for a file. “Go help Wilding with his autopsies on that restaurant fire night before last. He’s swamped and getting tetchy.”

Merlin took the file and rose to leave.

“No one will think less of you if you take some time for yourself,” Sarah Jane said softly.

 _I would_ , Merlin thought. “I’d rather be here, protected and useful, than at home worrying when he would get to me.”

“All right, then,” she said, nodding at him before returning to her report.  
*****

“Seriously?” Hannah said as she opened her door to Arthur.

“I brought food,” he said, holding up the bags of Indian takeaway.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Who called you?”

“I’d feel more comfortable answering that if you weren’t holding a cricket bat.”

“Who called?”

“For God’s sake, Hannah, he brought food! Let him in!” Tosh yelled from the living room.

“Figures,” Hannah muttered, stepping back to allow Arthur entrance. “She’s the only one I’m not allowed to smack.”

Arthur gave her an unsure grin as he moved into the flat. He absently noted the sound of several locks engaging behind him before he went into the living room.

“It’s about time!” Jack said, hurrying over to take the bags from Arthur. He went into the kitchen.

“Don’t just pick yours out and leave the rest!” Tosh called after him.

Hannah raised an eyebrow at Tosh.

“He’s going to pick his out and leave the rest,” Tosh muttered as she stood up. Hannah followed her into the kitchen to help.

Arthur’s gaze focused on Merlin, who was sitting on the sofa, tucked as far into the corner as he could go. On the television, a nubile teenager was running through the woods screaming bloody-about-to-be-murdered.

Teddy watched Arthur walk straight to the sofa and sit down next to Merlin. He smiled to himself; although he didn’t believe the Healing Power of Cock was what would make Merlin feel better about the day’s events, a little comfort couldn’t hurt.

“I’m going to go even the odds,” Teddy said as he rose to join the others in the kitchen.

As soon as Teddy was out of sight, Merlin clutched the front of Arthur’s jumper in tight fists. “You have got to get me out of here!” he said fiercely.

“What’s wrong?” Arthur replied, concerned. He took Merlin’s wrists in his hands and rubbed his thumbs over the backs of Merlin’s hands.

“They’re not talking about it. They’re all talking about everything but it. It was bad when it was just Hannah, but I almost had her talked into just relaxing. And then everyone started showing up and no one was talking. And then Hannah got out her cricket bat and started pacing through the house. Jack and Tosh and Teddy took it in stride, but she’s walking around with a cricket bat and no one will _talk_!”

“So talk.”

Merlin took a deep breath, then pressed his forehead against his hands, which were still clutched against Arthur’s chest. “Thank you.”  
*****

“Get your narrow arse off my counter,” Hannah snapped at Teddy, taking a break from her argument with Jack.

“It’s the best seat in the house,” Teddy said, shrugging. He didn’t bother to get down, though.

Tosh snorted and jabbed her fork into the container in her hand.

“Really? _You’re_ going to snort at an unintentional double entendre?” Hannah said.

“Who says it was unintentional?” Teddy asked.

“Look, I just wanted a nice, quiet night in so Merlin could process what happened today. And then all of you take it upon yourselves to come help. I told you we didn’t need a round table tonight,” Hannah protested.

Teddy looked at Jack. Jack nodded; it had to be a united front.

“Hannah,” Jack said softly.

“What?”

“You need to calm down,” Teddy added.

“I am calm. I just…I just needed to let him have some normalcy.”

“Hannah, you got the cricket bat out. You’ve been pacing for the past two hours. Merlin’s sitting in there a bit wild-eyed. He wants to talk. _You_ want to talk. So let’s do this,” Jack said.

Hannah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I promised I would protect him.”

Teddy hopped off the counter and hugged her from behind. “And you will. But driving him nuts by giving him too much time to think and watching horror films is not the way to do it.”

“It might have.”

“Didn’t work for me.”

She chuckled and ruffled his hair. “Yeah, but you’re weird.”

Teddy planted a kiss on her cheek. “Let’s go do this thing so we can all get some sleep.”

They walked back into the living room to find that Arthur and Merlin had turned off the television and were talking quietly.

“All right. Jack, dish up the food and drinks and bring them out. Tosh, help him. Elf, you and I are getting the supplies,” Hannah said, swinging the cricket bat over her shoulder.

“I’ll call Guin,” Merlin said, pulling out his mobile.  
*****

“This is impressive,” Guinevere said as she studied the boards, which Hannah and Teddy had moved into the living room.

“Hannah’s a bit anal-retentive,” Jack said.

“There’s a really easy joke there that I’m not going to make,” Hannah said as she paced. She had the bat across her shoulders, with her arms looped up over it, fingers tapping out a beat as she walked.

“Where’s Ianto?” Tosh asked.

“Parkinson trial starts tomorrow,” Arthur replied.

“Oo, Ianto’s first flight without Martha. He’s bound to be cranky about that. You’d better be on your game,” Hannah said.

Arthur watched warily as she did another circuit of the room. “Okay, what’s with the bat?”

“It helps her think,” Jack, Tosh and Teddy said in unison.

“You do realize you’re all mental?” Arthur said.

“Teddy taps out bass lines with his fingers; Tosh chews the hell out of her pens; Jack taps his feet; and you run your hands through your fringe,” Hannah replied. “I use the bat.”

Merlin coughed to cover a chuckle. It was a fair point.

“Guin!” Hannah said, swinging the bat off her shoulders.

“Yes?” Guinevere said, startled.

“Tool marks from the shoulder?” Hannah prompted.

“They’re a match. Whatever he’s using to carve, he brought it with him from Armagh.”

“Yes, but what is it?” Jack asked.

“I’m still testing. I’ve narrowed it down to a dozen possibilities. I’ll have a final answer for you tomorrow.”

“Good.”

Merlin watched his flatmate begin pacing again and decided enough was enough. “He’s been watching me.”

They all stopped and turned to look at him. Arthur slid his hand over to cover Merlin’s.

“Yes,” Jack said, unsure where Merlin was going.

“He’s been watching me. He knows where I work, so he must know where I live.”

“You’re safe here,” Hannah said fiercely, sitting on the arm of the sofa beside Merlin.

“I’m supposed to be safe at work,” Merlin protested.

“Trust me, Merlin. You’re safer here,” Arthur said.

“He’s right,” Jack said.

Merlin looked at Hannah, eyebrow lifting in question.

“ _So_ a story for another time,” she said.

“All right,” Jack said, breaking the staring contest between the flatmates that followed. “He’s been watching you. He knows where you live and where you work and somehow realized getting access to your work would be easier.”

“And we should assume he’s been watching Merlin since he arrived in London. At the very least shortly after,” Guinevere added, getting into the spirit.

“Your nipple!” Hannah said.

Tosh choked on her drink.

“Sorry,” Hannah said as Merlin blushed. “You just got pierced. That means he probably saw us go out that night. He might have followed us.”

“And who has a surveillance system bordering on serious paranoia?” Jack asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be.

“The Twisted Sisters,” Teddy said.

“Who?” Arthur asked.

“Elle and Gina Atreides. They own Pantheon. It’s where Hannah goes for all her flatmate bonding needs,” Jack explained as Teddy took out his mobile.

“Voice mail,” Teddy said to them before leaving a message for the sisters.

“Let’s go over there,” Hannah said, heading for the door.

“Hold on,” Jack said, standing in her path. “You know as well as I do that voice mail means they’re not at the shop or, if they are, they’re not opening their doors. We have to wait.”

“Bugger,” Hannah said.

Arthur looked at the partners. “Do I want to know?”

“Are you asking as a friend or a Crown Prosecutor?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t want to know,” Arthur said, answering his own question.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Hannah started chuckling.

“What?” Jack asked.

“You do all realize that so far, our strongest leads are traces of an exotic mushroom on the letter and the surveillance equipment of two tattoo and piercing artists?” Hannah said.

Jack Grinned. “I love our work.”

Everyone started laughing quietly.

Arthur looked at his watch. “I have to be going. Trial tomorrow.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Merlin said.

Hannah moved to follow, but was blocked by Jack, who gave her a look.

“Fine,” she muttered, flopping on the couch.

“Thank you,” Merlin said quietly as he opened the door for Arthur. “For everything. For earlier and…well, thank you.”

Arthur put his hand on Merlin’s shoulder. “Any time.”

Merlin smiled brilliantly.

Arthur couldn’t resist any longer and leaned in for a kiss. It was brief, but held a breadth of warmth. “Lock up behind me,” he said when he pulled away.

Merlin nodded and did as he asked, leaning against the door once it was locked.

Teddy and Tosh, who had peered around the corner to watch the exchange, looked at each other. They would have to do something about that; Merlin would need the comfort.

“Guinevere, may I escort you to your hotel?” Jack asked.

“Thank you,” she said, gathering her belongings.

Hannah lifted an eyebrow at Jack. He nodded; he’d arranged for someone to watch Guinevere to make sure Merlin’s stalker didn’t decide to offer her up as a courtship gift.

Merlin hugged Guinevere tightly, then Tosh and Teddy a little less so, and finally Jack swept him into a giant bear hug. He was still chuckling as he locked up behind them. He walked back into the living room and smiled at Hannah, who was sprawled on the couch with the cricket bat across her stomach.

“It was 80% helping you think and 20% intimidating Arthur, wasn’t it?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest.

Hannah grinned. “More like 70-30. Needed to see if he’d be easily intimidated.”

“You do realize he’s not some knight in shining armor who needs to prove himself worthy, right?”

“Says who?”

He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “Thanks, Hannah.”

She smiled. “Any time. Now, off to bed with you. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”

Merlin did as she asked, his thoughts turning back to the feel of Arthur’s lips on his as he drifted off to sleep.


	5. Part V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which mostly legal things are planned, a possible break is made, Arthur has a man-crush, and Tosh and Teddy plot.

**Part V**  
Hannah smiled up at the sign, green letters against a black background proudly proclaiming the name of the shop.

Pantheon sat between an honest-to-goodness apothecary and a small antique shop. Like its counterparts on either side, it had once been a residence; Gina and Elle shared the part of the house not taken up by the shop. There was a large window to the right of the door, but while those inside could see out, one could not clearly see in from the street. Gina and Elle explained to anyone who asked that this was because they felt getting a tattoo was an intensely private experience and should only be viewed by those the customer chose. However, both women (and some of the people waiting to get tattooed) liked to people-watch, so they left the window where it was and adapted it to their needs. As anyone who knew them well could tell you, the Atreides sisters were very good at adapting things to their needs.

Jack and Hannah walked through the front door to find Gina and Elle leaning against the tall island that served as a welcome desk and design exhibition area.

“Wotcher, Jack?” Gina said, smiling.

“Gina. Nice to see you have your head out of the toilet,” Jack replied.

Gina glared at Hannah. “You _had_ to tell him?”

Hannah shrugged. “Merlin mentioned it in front of him. He was quite concerned for your health.”

“Merlin went to medical school; he should know it’s a perfectly normal symptom in the first trimester.”

“I just think it’s funny you schedule tattoo sessions around your puking schedule,” Jack replied.

“That’s because you’re an ass,” Elle said.

Hannah smirked. “You’re just saying that because he’s in love with your ex-husband.”

“Yeah, Jack. When _are_ you going to hit that?” Elle asked, smiling devilishly.

“Believe it or not, we’re here on business,” Jack said, putting his cop-face on.

“Coward,” Elle said.

“It’s about Merlin,” Hannah interceded.

“What’s wrong with Merlin?” Gina asked. Although Elle was the experienced piercer and had done both Hannah and Merlin’s piercings, Gina had been there for the procedures and had taken an instant liking to the young man. And once you were adopted by the Atreides sisters, well, you were stuck with them.

Hannah leaned on the island across from the other women. “Merlin has a stalker who followed him here after murdering six people, including Merlin’s boyfriend. He’s killed one here already and left a letter announcing his continued courtship of Merlin.”

The sisters exchanged a look before turning back to Jack and Hannah.

“What do you need us to do?” Gina asked.

“You’re staying here; that’s my niece you’re cooking in there,” Elle said to her sister.

Gina made an obscene gesture without bothering to look at Elle.

“Neither of you is going anywhere. Getting an ‘anonymous’ tip through you every once in a while is one thing. But this one has to be by the book,” Jack said. “This guy is going away for a long time.”

Elle looked at Hannah and the very controlled mask the other woman had on her face. “Yeah, because she’s going to let this guy get away with hurting one of her strays,” she said, inclining her head toward Hannah.

“Yes, she _is_ ,” Jack said, giving his partner a hard look.

Gina sighed. “What’s the good of having tools like us in your arsenal if you aren’t going to use us?”

“Oh, we are. I need you to give us copies of your surveillance feeds from the night Merlin and Hannah came in to get pierced,” Jack said.

“No problem, Jack. We can take care of that. Shall we send it to you or do you want to wait around for a burn?” Gina asked.

“If you wait, it could give me a chance to get Jack pierced. I think he’d look good with a nipple ring,” Elle said, grinning.

“Thanks, I’ll stick with the holes I’ve got,” Jack replied.

“Come on, Ianto let me pierce him.”

“Still going to say no.”

Hannah chuckled. “We have other things to see to. Can you send it to us?”

“Sure,” Gina said, heading back for the office.

“Send it to Tosh, would you?” Jack called after her.

Gina paused and turned. “That would be to her _work_ e-mail, correct?”

“Yep. Come on, Hannah,” Jack said, taking her elbow.

“She’s going to hack Tosh, isn’t she?” Hannah asked as they got in the car.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Of course not. It’s silly, really. I mean, there’s not a person alive who could hack Tosh.”

Jack turned to look at her. “You realize that’s akin to a direct challenge for Gina, right?”

“Why do you think I waited until we were in the car to bring it up?”  
*****

“And you’re sure about this?” Tosh asked, looking up from the paper in her hands. Guinevere and Teddy were sitting across the desk from her.

“Don’t take it personally; she does that to all of us,” Teddy said to Guinevere.

Guinevere smiled. “I understand. Yes, I’m sure. It’s a rather expensive knife and not something I would have looked for right away. Teddy’s finding of the mushroom trace gave me the idea to look for the exotic.”

“It’s a beautiful blade; too bad it’s being used for—what the hell?” Tosh cut off as movement on her computer screen caught her eye. She looked more closely to see a pattern of seven bright blue stars traipsing its way across her screen. She smiled as she saw it circle around the folder she had titled EMRYS. She moved her cursor to make a plus sign over the file before turning her attention back to Teddy and Guinevere.

“I have a letter to extract DNA from. Teddy, you still have work to do on the Frost matter. Guinevere, if you wouldn’t mind working up a full report? You can use Teddy’s computer,” Tosh said as she stood.

Teddy lifted an eyebrow in question.

“I just can’t look at that computer screen any more today,” she said as she led them out of the office.  
*****

“Great, Tosh. Tell Guinevere thanks for all her hard work from us,” Hannah said before closing her mobile.

“Good news?” Jack asked.

“Guinevere has identified the weapon. It’s a Benchmade stiletto called _The Infidel_. She says it’s a beautiful blade.”

“She would know.”

“She also said her computer was acting a little funky, so she’s working in the lab with Teddy right now. I told her it’s probably because of the surveillance feeds she’s getting from Gina.”

“I’m sure that’s it.”

Hannah’s mobile rang. “DS Summers-Fogg,” she answered.

“It’s Noble. You two have another body. I’m sending the GPS coordinates to you. I’ve already put in a call to Bones to make sure she goes instead of Emrys.”

Hannah closed her eyes. “Damn it. All right, we’re on our way.”

“Another body?”

“You guessed it. She’s sending Bones to us.”

“Who’s coming from scene of crime?”

“Don’t know. Tosh will probably want it herself, but she may send Teddy.”

“You don’t think she’ll send fresh eyes?”

“Not on your life.”  
*****

“Sato,” Tosh said as she answered her phone. 

Teddy watched as Tosh’s face paled.

“All right. Teddy and I are on our way.”

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Another body. Guinevere, feel free to use Teddy’s computer for your report. Make sure someone escorts you back to your hotel when you’re done. Teddy and I have a scene to get to.”

“Is this about Merlin’s case?” Guinevere asked as Teddy dashed to grab his coat and gear.

“Noble thinks so. I’m hoping not,” Tosh replied before heading to her office to do the same.  
*****

“Another weird one for you,” PC Eugene Jones said in greeting as Jack and Hannah reached the crime scene.

“My very favorite thing on a bright spring morning,” Hannah said, ducking under the tape.

Jack just nodded at the man and followed his partner. “What have we got?” he asked Bones, who was crouched beside the body.

“Liver temp puts time of death between one and three in the morning,” she replied.

“Cause of death?”

“I’ll have to get him on my table. There’s blunt force trauma to the head, multiple stab wounds and abrasions. At a guess, I’d say stabbing, but I won’t be sure until after autopsy.”

“Is he marked?” Hannah asked.

Bones nodded, pushing the body slightly onto its side to reveal initials cut into the shoulder.

“Damn,” Jack said.

“There is some good news,” Bones said, holding up the dead man’s left hand.

Jack and Hannah crouched down to get a better look.

“He fought back,” Bones said. “Hopefully, there’ll be good DNA under there to get to Tosh.”

“Did I hear DNA and my name in the same sentence?” Tosh asked as she and Teddy joined them.

“Our guy here put up a fight, Tosh,” Jack explained.

Tosh crouched beside Bones. “Oh, I do love DNA. Let’s bag his hands, Teddy, just to be safe.”

Teddy nodded and pulled the requested bags out.

Jack and Hannah moved back out of the way to let the experts work. Hannah inclined her head back toward the crime scene tape. Jack nodded, calling over his shoulder to the others as they went.

“We’re going to go talk to PC Jones.”

Tosh and Bones waved them off.

“All right, go for it,” Jack said once he and Hannah were out of earshot of anyone else.

“Last time, he left a body and then a letter the next day.”

“You think he’ll hold true to form.”

“Yes. We need to bulk up surveillance and security around the lab.”

“We’ll never get approval in time, let alone the fact that there’s no way we can do it discreetly,” Jack said.

“You’re right, on both counts. _We_ couldn’t do it.”

“You want to call Elle and Gina.”

“Yes.”

“You want to call Elle and Gina to install monitoring equipment in a government facility.”

“Yes.”

“Have you lost your ever-loving _mind_? If they get caught, they’re screwed. We’re all screwed,” Jack said, barely keeping his voice down.

“They won’t get caught. It’s Gina and Elle.”

“Gina’s pregnant.”

“Even better. That means it’ll just be Elle, so the chances of her being caught are slimmer. We just have to get Bones to agree, sneak Elle in, get everything planted, and sneak her back out.”

“If anyone finds out we let civilians plant surveillance equipment, it would ruin the department, not to mention our careers.”

“So we don’t let anyone find out.”

“No. Bad idea. It’s too risky at this point.”

“He’s murdered eight people!”

“We’ll have security beefed up at the lab and we’ll have Tosh go over all the equipment and see if she can’t angle anything better,” Jack said. “That’s it.”

Hannah crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine.”

Jack nodded and turned to go talk to Tosh and Bones.

Hannah wandered away and pulled out her phone. “Hi,” she said when the other end picked up. “I need a smallish favor.”  
*****

“This is a nightmare,” Teddy said as he drove the two of them back to the lab.

“Agreed,” Tosh said, working at her laptop.

“Anything I should know about on there?”

“I’m running facial recognition on what Elle and Gina sent, but nothing has come up yet.”

Teddy nodded and continued paying attention to the road. He still wasn’t quite comfortable driving in London; he had the distinct belief that most of the roadways had been constructed on a dare. But Tosh had needed to work, so driving duties for the day had fallen to him.

“I have an idea,” he said.

“Idea or theory?”

“Idea. I don’t think we should let Hannah round table us tonight.”

“Oh?” Tosh said, looking up from her laptop.

“You saw how Merlin was last night. He was all Bambi-stuck-in-the-meadow-staring-down-a-rifle. Until Arthur showed up.”

“I like where this is going so far.”

“You saw that good night kiss last night. The best thing for Merlin right now might be some normalcy. I say we get Arthur to take Merlin out tonight.”

Tosh pondered the idea. “If they stay in very public places—”

“Or very private places with lots of security.”

“Or that,” she conceded. “Then he should be safe enough. Unless this guy decides that Merlin dating during a courtship means Merlin’s rejected him and kills them both in the street.”

“No more true crime channel for you.”

Tosh snorted. “Please. My life is the true crime channel.”

“All right. What if Arthur comes and picks Merlin up and they go straight to Arthur’s?”

“No. But, _I_ could come pick Merlin up and take him to Arthur’s. If our guy’s watching, he won’t think anything of me picking Merlin up; I’m not a threat to his romantic interests.”

“Good. But how are you going to get him out of the flat without Hannah insisting on going as well?”

Tosh gave him what could only be described as an evil grin.  
*****

It was impossible to deny: Arthur had a huge, fat man-crush on Ianto Jones. It was one thing to hear about the man’s prowess in a courtroom, one thing to work with him and see just how fantastic his brain was; but seeing him in his wig and robes, tearing into a testimony was something else entirely. The first day of trial had been an enlightening experience for Arthur.

“Arthur, you’ve been giving me odd looks since we got back here,” Ianto said as he settled behind his desk. “What is it?”

“I have a huge crush on you now,” Arthur replied, smiling as he sat down.

“Arthur, er, I’m flattered, but—”

“Oh, I know. You and Jack; I’ve got it. Besides, I meant—”

“There is no Jack and me; that’s not the issue. You and I work together.”

Arthur laughed. “Not like _that_ , Ianto. I have a huge man-crush. A professional crush. I had heard about you in the courtroom and you’ve tried your line of theory out on me. But seeing you ablaze in there…damn, man.”

Ianto chuckled.

“You just tore into those witnesses. But, um, strictly speaking, isn’t Davidson on _our_ side?”

“Nominatively,” Ianto replied. “But his handling of the scene, witnesses and generally being underfoot seriously compromises the forensic portion of our case. I had to get us out in front of it before Mr. Adams had the chance.”

“Showing our warts before they can,” Arthur said.

“I don’t like to advertise shortcomings if I can get away with it, but Davidson’s actions were too much to gloss over. We can’t afford to lose this.”

“I understand. Still, I think you almost made him cry.”

“Oh dear. I’ll have to try harder next time.”

Arthur chuckled, then turned as there was a knock on Ianto’s door.

“Come in,” Ianto said.

Teddy entered the office, looking completely out of place in his dark jeans and Haddonfield ’78 t-shirt.

“Teddy. Is something wrong?” Arthur asked, standing.

“Yes and no,” Teddy answered, closing the door behind him. “We got another body today, but we think this one’s going to give us some DNA. The bad news is that it probably means the killer’s going to try to make contact with Merlin again.”

“I can’t round table tonight, Teddy. I’m in the middle of trial,” Ianto said.

“I know. Nice work on Davidson, by the way. I hear the favored epithet for you that he’s spat out after trial is ‘bag of manky weasel tits’.”

Ianto laughed. Teddy still had his American accent, despite the years in London, and it was always funny to hear him use Britishisms.

“That being said, Tosh and I thought it might be better for Merlin’s mental health if there was no meeting at the flat. _I_ thought getting him away from Hannah in mother lion mode would be a good thing,” Teddy continued.

“Teddy, I am very busy. A point?”

“Can we borrow Arthur for the night?”

“I’m sorry?” Ianto asked as Arthur stood looking bewildered.

“Tosh and I have it all planned out. She’ll pick up Merlin from the flat and take him to Arthur’s, where he can enjoy some much-needed normalcy. I’ll distract Hannah. I just needed to ask you if we can borrow your second chair for the night. In the middle of trial.”

“Shouldn’t you ask Arthur if this plan is okay with him?” Ianto asked, eyebrow raised.

Teddy waved him off. “I don’t need to ask. I saw the good night kiss,” he finished, looking at Arthur.

Arthur looked helplessly to Ianto. This was a huge trial, his first at this job, and he wanted to make a good impression and live up to what he’d promised Ianto he could do. But it was also Merlin.

“Do not be up late. Do not get drunk. Do have your arse in this office an hour before trial,” Ianto said.

“Great!” Teddy said, grinning. He turned back to Arthur. “Now, should I have him pack an overnight bag?”


	6. Part VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin shows off his mad ME skills; Arthur and Merlin get to know each other; Ianto meets Lord Penn; and Teddy prepares to take one for the team. And the author has a hard time writing scenes with Sarah Jane without crying.

**Part VI**  
Merlin stared hard at the body on the table in front of him, willing it to give up its secrets. Sometimes it worked. His colleagues would say it was a flash of inspiration or the accumulation of experience. _He_ would swear it was magic; answers coming to him out of the ether. All he had to do was listen.

Today, he was having no such luck.

He forced himself to concentrate on the body and not on what was going on in the autopsy bay next to his. He had seen Sarah Jane’s face when she had returned from the crime scene with the body. He didn’t need to ask if this one was another “gift” for him; her expression had said it all. 

Merlin shook his head to clear it. He had too many thoughts careening through his brain. He rubbed his stomach absently as it growled at him. He had skipped lunch, and the thought of another evening of staring at photos of the bodies left in his wake agitated the already upset organ. He frowned, vowing to concentrate instead on the body he was busily cutting into.

He let his mind wander, let the part of his brain that housed himself drift gently as he engaged that part which housed the laser focus and abstract path-finding. 

Faint bruising around the throat indicated throttling, but there was no petechial hemorrhaging. A red herring. He was still waiting on the tox screen, but—

“Hello,” Merlin breathed, his fingers ghosting over the back of the man’s neck. It felt—bouncy. “Did we get head x-rays?” he said aloud.

“On your desk,” Sarah Jane called.

Merlin gently set the man’s head back down on the table.

“Broken hyoid!” he shouted, reading the x-rays.

Sarah Jane came over to join him, looking around his shoulder, as she was too short to look over it. “Ah, yes. Is that—is that snapped clean in half?”

“Looks like. I’ll open him up to be sure, but that’s our cause of death.”

“Great,” she said, slapping him on the shoulder. “Now you’ve just got to figure out how your perp did it.”

Merlin chuckled. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to hearing the refined Sarah Jane say “perp”. “Easy peasy,” he said, grinning at her.

She swatted him up the back of the head.

“Ow!” Merlin said, rubbing his head. “You’ve been hanging around Hannah too much.”

Sarah Jane smirked. “Who do you think she learned that from?”

“The thought of you tutoring Hannah is a bit scary.”

“Only a bit? I think I should be offended.”

“Mortifying. It’s completely _mortifying_.”

“That’s better. Get back to work on your body. I have things to do and no time to be patting you on the back for being able to read an x-ray,” she said, smiling.

“Hey, I knew there was something wrong with the hyoid just by touching him.”

“Do you really want me to make a magic fingers comment?”

“That…that is just _wrong_. You have a son!”

“He’s fourteen; believe me, innuendo is nothing new to my household.”

Merlin laughed.

“I’ll leave you to Mr. Cooke, then,” she said, nodding at the body. She turned on her heel and headed back to her own autopsy bay.

Merlin watched her go, fighting against the impulse to call after her. As usual, his impulse won out. “Is it him?”

Sarah Jane stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder at him. “I won’t know for sure for a bit yet.”

“But you think it is.”

“We do.”

“Bollocks.”

“Hannah’s picking you up; you are not to leave here unless I see her with you, _capisce_?”

Merlin nodded. One place no man wanted to be was stuck between an angry Bones and an angry Hannah.

He turned back to his autopsy. “All right, Mr. Cooke, who was angry enough at you to break your hyoid and how the hell did they do it clean in half?”  
*****

“Ah, Ms. Summers-Fogg. You have company,” Aaron, the doorman on Hannah’s building, said as she and Merlin headed for the elevator.

Hannah stopped dead. “I have _what_?” she fairly growled as she pushed Merlin behind her.

Aaron put his hands up in defense—he may have been built like a brick wall and played professional rugby, but he had a healthy fear of Hannah Summers-Fogg. “It’s Teddy. He came by with Tosh. He still has a key and you never said he couldn’t have access any longer.”

Hannah relaxed. “Oh, of course. Don’t scare me like that, Aaron. I thought it might have been my mother.”

“Don’t we have a code worked out for that?” he asked, smiling.

“We do indeed. Have a good night, Aaron,” Hannah said, pulling Merlin along by the elbow.

“You really need to stop shoving me behind you and into corners. I can protect myself, you know,” Merlin said as the elevator doors closed.

“I know, Merlin. I know you’ve had some basic self-defense with Guinevere and I know that you are _quite_ proficient with a quarterstaff. However, I don’t see this guy giving you a chance to see him coming so you can clock him one. And I certainly can’t see you traipsing all over London with a quarterstaff strapped to your back. Don’t get me wrong,” she said as the doors opened, “I think that would be really hot. I just can’t see it happening.”

“I just mean that I could protect myself in my own lobby if I had to,” Merlin replied as Hannah opened the door to the flat.

“Why did Merlin have to protect himself in the lobby?” Teddy asked from just inside the door.

“What, are you lying in wait for me now?” Hannah asked, locking the door behind them.

“Nah, Aaron called up and warned me you were on your way up.”

“There goes his Christmas tip,” Hannah muttered.

“Anyway, Tosh and I have a plan,” Teddy said, leading her into the flat.

Merlin followed behind them, equal parts amused and intrigued.

“Does it involve blowing things up? I could really go for blowing things up today,” Hannah said.

“It involves a trip out. You need to get out and let go for a little while,” Teddy said.

“I can’t be out drinking and carousing and keep an eye on Merlin.”

“Merlin’s not going with you,” Tosh said from her perch on the arm of the couch.

“I’m not? What am I, grounded now?” Merlin asked.

Tosh shot him a look which quite clearly said, _Shut up, if you know what’s good for you._ At least, that’s what he thought it said. It could also have been, _Don’t make me kill you_ ; the two looks were awfully close.

“No,” Tosh said out loud, “I’ll be staying here with you. I think it’s time we brushed up on your hand-to-hand combat. We can use Hannah’s workout room.”

“Why can’t I stay for that?” Hannah asked.

“You talk too much,” Teddy and Tosh said in unison.

Merlin tried valiantly to swallow a chuckle as Hannah’s jaw dropped.

“Merlin needs a chance to study and concentrate and you have a bad habit of keeping up a running commentary,” Tosh said, attempting to placate the other woman.

“Come on, Hannah Banana. It’s been forever since you and I tied one on together,” Teddy said.

Hannah grinned evilly. “Well, when you put it like that, Theodora the Explora.”

“Just for that, the first round’s on you.”

Hannah sighed. “All right. Let me get changed and we’ll be off.”

“Great. I’ll call the cab,” Teddy said, pulling out his mobile.

Tosh stood up and stretched. “Are you ready for some exercise?” she asked.

Merlin froze at the look in her eyes. She was far too merry for his liking; he had a bad feeling he would be waking up with some interesting bruises.  
*****

“Counselor. Interesting seeing you in here.”

Ianto looked up from his phone and into the piercing eyes of Uther Penn.

“Lord Penn,” Ianto replied, nodding his head. “It has been well-established that _Malobo’s_ is the place to see and be seen in the legal world. A good deal of business is also done here; this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you indulging in a martini-and-contract combination.”

Uther’s eyes narrowed. “Might I join you, Mr. Jones?”

Intrigued, Ianto gestured to the empty chair across from him.

“Are you expecting company?” Penn asked as he settled into the chair.

Ianto leaned back slightly, swirling his scotch. “I came to relax and catch up with other trials. I have some interest in the Carhill case.”

“That one’s front page news.”

“As well it should be. Everyone put a lot of work into catching him; I’m hoping for a good outcome.”

“And your case? Are you hoping for front-page coverage?”

Ianto lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll be happy with a conviction. I’m not in it for the ink.”

“And yet you have my son second chairing your case.”

 _Ah_ , Ianto thought, _there it is_. “Not by choice. I was expecting to go into this with Martha Jones at my side. She left for the private sector, and I was lucky that Smith could hire someone in time that I didn’t have to fly solo.”

“So you aren’t comfortable taking on a large case by yourself,” Uther said, sipping his drink.

“I didn’t say that. I said I was lucky I didn’t have to. I’m carrying a large caseload; taking them all on solo would be a disservice to the Crown and her people. As it happens, I think Smith made a brilliant choice.”

Uther’s face darkened. “I assure you, his choice was more personal than professional.”

“You don’t believe Arthur is capable of the job?”

“I don’t believe he is a proper fit. Wallowing with criminals. He had a bright future ahead of him.”

“He still does. I think your son will surprise you,” said a new voice.

Ianto looked up to see that John Smith had reached the table. “Please tell me that’s not a banana daiquiri,” Ianto said by way of greeting.

“Mind if I join you?” Smith responded, pulling a chair up to their table without waiting for an answer.

“Actually, I have some case notes to go over before the morning,” Ianto said, polishing off his scotch.

“Isn’t young Arthur meeting you to work?” Smith asked, grinning broadly.

“Arthur had plans for the evening. I’ll see you at the office,” he said, gathering his briefcase and coat. “Lord Penn, a pleasure,” Ianto said before taking his leave.

Smith leaned back in his chair and studied Uther. “Really, Uther. I thought terrorizing my staff was beneath you.”

Uther gave him a sharp smile and swirled his port. “I was merely having a conversation with Mr. Jones about his caseload and capabilities. I’d hardly call that terrorizing.”

“I was referring to Ianto’s second chair.”

“You mean my son. I can assure you that I have not spoken with him since his new…appointment.”

“Yes. I haven’t decided yet if you are gearing up to give him an ultimatum or are punishing him with silence. Seeing as it’s you, I’d say the odds are pretty even.”

Uther leaned forward into Smith’s personal space, keeping his voice low. “Why do you care, Smith?”

Smith sat up straight. “Because Arthur is _good_ , Uther. And not just at his job. I think it’s time you finally gave him a break. Forgive him for whatever it is you’ve been holding over him his whole life.”

“You do not tell me how to treat _my family_ ,” Uther snarled before standing and storming out of the lounge.

“Somebody bloody has to,” Smith muttered into his drink.  
*****

“I thought he’d never get her out of here,” Tosh said, leaning back against the front door.

Merlin quirked an eyebrow at her. “Something tells me we weren’t waiting for her to leave so we could throw a party.”

“Nope. Pack an overnight bag, Merlin. I’m breaking you out.”

“What? Won’t Hannah flip if she comes back and I’m not here?”

“First, if Teddy has his way, Hannah won’t remember coming back. Second, Teddy knows where you’ll be and if she does ask, he’ll explain it and she’ll be in no condition to come get you.”

“Where am I going to be?”

Tosh pushed him toward his room. “You’re going to be at Arthur Penn’s. Believe me when I say that boy has security that would—”

“Arthur Penn?” Merlin squawked, interrupting her.

“Yes, Arthur Penn. We’ve taken care of everything except your packing. I’d wear your black jumper if I were you; it really makes your eyes pop.”

“But I’m—and he’s—this is rather fast!” he said, stopping in the middle of his room.

“Merlin,” Tosh said, putting her hands on her hips, “it is dinner, company and conversation that does not revolve around blood and death. We’re not pimping you out.”

“Pimping?” Merlin said, his voice rising an octave.

“Poor choice of words. Just pack an overnight bag. You’ll be back here bright and early tomorrow morning. You can help me chuckle over the damage Teddy and Hannah have done to each other.”

“She won’t hurt him when she figures this out, will she?”

“Nah, worst case, they’ll both have hangovers and new piercings.”

“That could be pretty bad.”

“Depends on the piercing. Besides, they’ll only go to Pantheon; Elle and Gina won’t let them get too crazy. Well, Gina will keep a cool head, at least…”  
*****

Arthur was decidedly _not_ pacing. He had been _not_ pacing for the past half hour. He had, however, completed at least a dozen circuits of his flat in that time. He told himself it was because he was checking to make sure there was nothing out that would trigger memories of the bodies or the death of Merlin’s former lover. Or anything that would cue Merlin into the fact that Arthur desperately wanted to see the other man naked. Preferably spread across his sheets. Which he decidedly had _not_ changed just because Merlin was coming over and his pale skin would glow against the brand new navy blue sheets.

“Bugger,” Arthur said, flopping down onto his couch.

He leapt back off the couch moments later when his doorbell rang. He wiped his palms on his denims as he walked to the door. He had told the doorman to only allow Tosh and Merlin up; Arthur would have to have been contacted for anyone else to be allowed up. He took a deep breath and smiled as he opened the door.

He had to fight very hard to keep the smile on his face, lest it turn into a predatory smirk; or worse, a slack-jawed, drooling “guh”.

Tosh smiled as she looked past Merlin at Arthur. She knew she had been right to put Merlin in the black jumper; Hannah had once drunkenly called her “the fairy sexmother” and it seemed she was living up to the title. If the look Arthur had on his face was any indication of how the night would progress, then stalkers and death would be the last things on Merlin’s mind. 

“Well, as promised, one medical examiner. We’ll be by to fetch him home in the morning. Be sure to keep your doors locked and call Jack if anything happens. _Don’t_ call Hannah; because she’ll be incapacitated and she’ll kill me,” she said, pushing Merlin through the door. “Good night!” she called, pulling the door shut. She whistled happily as she wandered back to the elevator.

“I packed a bag,” Merlin said once he regained his balance. He cringed as he realized how ridiculous that sounded.

Arthur’s smile widened. “Did you, now?”

“Should I—do you have a guest room or something?”

“Right this way,” he said, taking Merlin’s elbow.

Merlin jumped. “Sorry.”

Arthur stopped them and turned to face Merlin. “Relax, Merlin. I’m not casting any aspersions on your virtue; I told Teddy to have you pack a bag.”

“You did?”

“I thought it would be better to not try taking you home when it was late and we were tired.”

“And we might miss someone following us,” Merlin finished.

Arthur squeezed Merlin’s shoulder. “Let’s put your bag in the guest room and I’ll check on dinner.”

“You cooked?”

Arthur laughed. “Ah, another victim to the pretty rich boy stereotype. I don’t live on takeaway alone; there are a few things I can manage. You’ve quite a lot to learn about me, Merlin.”

Merlin smiled. “I look forward to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to put the smexing in this chapter. It'll be in the next one. I wanted them to take their time.


	7. Part VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Teddy takes one (or a couple dozen) for the team and the author finally lives up to her NC-17 rating.

**Part VII**  
“Not happening,” Teddy said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“This was your idea, sunshine,” Hannah said, slurring her “s”s slightly.

“ _My_ idea was a blues bar and tequila shooters. _Your_ idea was popping in to visit Elle and Gina after my idea.”

“Yes, thank you _ever_ so much for that,” Gina said, eyeing her better-than-buzzed sister.

Elle grinned broadly from her chair. “You were the one who wanted to propagate the Atreides line,” she said, pointing.

Gina threw a wadded up piece of paper at her. “I lost the coin toss.”

“A coin toss? Really?” Teddy asked, uncrossing his arms enough to take a drink of his beer.

Hannah turned quickly on her stool, then threw a hand onto the desk to steady herself. “ _You_ have lost over dumber things.”

“Have not.”

“Have too.”

“Have not.”

“I distinctly remember you having to give up your MAC eyeliners over something you later tried to attribute to a ‘blond moment’,” she said, pointing at him and raising a golden eyebrow.

“But I _am_ a natural blond,” Teddy protested.

Gina snorted as Elle and Hannah burst out laughing.

“What?”

“Next time, try saying that in front of people who _haven’t_ seen you drop trou for a tattoo,” Hannah advised.

“I hate you all,” Teddy said, slamming the rest of his beer.

“You _love_ us. You love us so much, you wish we had cocks and manly, manly chests,” Hannah said, giggling.

“Someone’s cut off,” Gina muttered.

“Or,” Elle said, sitting up straight, “someone is ready for another round of shots!”

“I’m so glad we closed up early,” Gina groaned.  
*****

“You really didn’t have to help with the dishes,” Arthur said as Merlin put the last plate away in the cupboard.

“I did. If I hadn’t, I’d have heard my mother scolding me about being a bad guest all night,” Merlin replied, smiling softly. 

Arthur gave him a sad smile. “If I don’t do the dishes, I hear my sister scolding me for expecting someone else to pick up after me.”

Merlin made note of the fact that Arthur hadn’t mentioned anything about a mother. “So,” he said, swinging the hand towel over his shoulder, “whatever shall we do now?”

“Well, I think watching a movie curled up on the couch would be a good idea. But if you suggest something arty or with subtitles, I may have to take you home.”

“And face the wrath of Hannah? I think I can stomach something lowbrow for once.”

“Who said anything about lowbrow? I just don’t want to have to read or get quizzed later on the metaphorical importance of a red door,” Arthur said, reaching out his hand to Merlin.

Merlin laughed. “All right; nothing that requires a pop quiz or heavy reading,” he said, taking Arthur’s hand. “And I’d like to request no horror or something with a lot of things blowing up. Hannah has a disturbing affinity for films where ‘shit blows up’.”

“Hmmm.”

“Does that leave out everything but a Three Stooges film?”

Arthur turned and gently pressed Merlin against the wall. “Or we could skip the movie.”

Merlin swallowed hard, trying fiercely not to blush as he stared into Arthur’s eyes. There were a hundred reasons he shouldn’t do this—a thousand—but all he could think was that if he had met Arthur outside of this insanity, he still would have wanted him. If he had met him out in a bar, he probably would have already jumped him. And _that_ would have been a tragedy, because Arthur deserved to be something more than a one-off.

“Did I say something wrong?” Arthur asked softly. Merlin’s eyes had gone dark with what Arthur had thought was desire, but then he’d seemed to drift off for a moment.

Merlin smiled and leaned forward to kiss Arthur lightly. “No,” he said against Arthur’s lips.

Arthur groaned and pressed harder into the kiss, only closing his eyes halfway so he could watch the skin stretch and shift over Merlin’s cheekbones as his mouth moved under the kiss. He slipped one arm around Merlin’s narrow— _too narrow, need to feed him_ —waist and pulled their bodies together. Merlin gasped into his mouth, his hands digging into Arthur’s shoulders. Arthur slid his free hand up Merlin’s side, ending with his hand cupping the elegant length of Merlin’s neck.

“Arthur,” Merlin breathed, nipping at Arthur’s lower lip.

“Yes,” Arthur replied, and there was a yearning in his tone that made Merlin’s knees weak.

Merlin buried his hands in Arthur’s hair, tilting the other man’s head to reach a deeper angle. Arthur growled and slid his tongue between Merlin’s lips, gliding along the slick heat of Merlin’s tongue to tease it into play. Merlin’s grip tightened almost painfully, searing Arthur’s scalp with a tingling burn. Arthur pulled his mouth from Merlin’s, needing desperately to taste the pale flesh of Merlin’s throat. He bit gently at Merlin’s Adam’s apple, then significantly harder at the pulse point pounding beneath his lips.

“Bedroom,” Merlin gasped.

“Can’t wait,” Arthur gasped, moving his mouth to Merlin’s ear.

Merlin pushed one hand against Arthur’s chest, the other hand pulling him back by the hair. “Now,” he said, his eyes seeming to flash golden under the hall lights.

Arthur smiled crookedly, and it took everything Merlin had to not kiss him again. “Your wish is my command,” Arthur replied.

Merlin pushed himself away from the wall, intending to walk to the bedroom with Arthur. He vaguely remembered where it was from the brief tour Arthur had given him earlier. Instead, he let out a gasping laugh as Arthur swung him up into his arms and carried him down the hall. 

“I am not a girl, you know,” Merlin protested as they entered the bedroom.

Arthur laughed and dropped Merlin in the middle of the bed. “Prove it,” he said as Merlin bounced.

Merlin’s mouth went suddenly dry as he watched Arthur unbutton his shirt and slide it off, tossing it onto a chair in the corner. He struggled into a sitting position and pulled his jumper over his head and tossed it to the side. He kicked his shoes off and leaned forward to take off his socks. His attention was caught by the sound of a zipper and he looked up to see Arthur sliding his trousers down toned legs. As he stepped out of his trousers, he managed to get his socks off; all without falling over, a feat Merlin never could have accomplished.

“Show-off,” Merlin muttered, shaking his head.

Arthur laughed and pounced on him, pinning Merlin to the bed with his body. Merlin took Arthur’s head in his hands and brought him down into a kiss. He bit Arthur’s upper lip, then slid his tongue across it to soothe. Arthur groaned and parted his lips, deepening the kiss. Merlin surrendered to the kiss, pulling Arthur down with him until the other man was pressed against him. He couldn’t hold back the moan when Arthur’s heated flesh slid against his. He stroked his fingers through the hair on Arthur’s chest, tugging gently to get a reaction. Arthur pulled out of the kiss, gasping. He smiled down at Merlin; he had moved his fingers to tease Arthur’s nipples.

“Hmm, could still be a girl, albeit flat-chested.”

Merlin pinched Arthur’s left nipple.

“Ouch.”

“There’s more where that came from,” Merlin taunted.

“Oh really?” Arthur ducked his head and bit down on Merlin’s neck, just where it met his shoulder. Merlin arched underneath him, digging his heels into the mattress. Arthur lifted his head and looked down Merlin’s body. 

“Mmmm…close. Let’s see if I can get toe-curling.”

“What?”

Arthur quickly divested Merlin of his jeans, taking time to slide both thumbs over Merlin’s briefs-clad erection as he did. “Hmm, definitely not a girl,” he said, leaning up to nuzzle Merlin’s cock.

“Arthur,” Merlin gasped.

Arthur slid back up Merlin’s body, his hands resting on Merlin’s prominent hipbones, which rode just above the edge of his briefs. “ _Definitely_ not a girl,” he said against Merlin’s lips before taking them in a fierce kiss.

Arthur kissed his way down Merlin’s body, one hand on the other man’s hip, his thumb gently caressing Merlin’s hipbone; the fingers of his other hand were circling around the silver hoop in Merlin’s left nipple, flicking it randomly. He took his time, dipping the tip of his tongue into Merlin’s navel; chuffing a laugh against the flesh as Merlin fought back a giggle. He did it again, pressing more firmly this time, and Merlin moaned, caught between the constant heat at his navel and the tease of tension at his nipple.

Merlin arched underneath Arthur’s touch, his hands clutching against the sheets. He lifted one hand and placed it on Arthur’s shoulder, his fingers digging in, giving encouragement. He tried to tell Arthur how good it felt, how perfect it was, but his mouth seemed to be unable to form anything other than grunts and half-formed pleas.

_Gods, how does he know just where to touch me? No one’s made me felt this way since Will. No one has known my body like this. Known me li—_

Merlin froze, a horrible, unthinkable thought slamming into his brain. His hand clenched on Arthur’s shoulder before he sharply pulled it away, as though he had been burned. It couldn’t…he couldn’t _breathe._

“I’ve never been to Armagh,” Arthur said softly against the flesh of Merlin’s stomach. He didn’t make any sudden moves, his fingers drawing random patterns on Merlin’s hip as he rested his cheek against Merlin’s belly.

Merlin covered his face with his hands, mortified beyond words. _Of course_ Arthur wasn’t the one murdering people to get Merlin’s attention. Arthur Penn didn’t need to kill people to get their attention. And Merlin was positive he had never seen Arthur before; he wasn’t someone Merlin could forget.

“Talk to me,” Arthur said, tilting his head so he could see Merlin’s face—or could have, had Merlin not still been covering it in embarrassment.

“You must think I’m an idiot,” Merlin said, his voice muffled by his hands.

Arthur chuckled and nipped at Merlin’s hipbone.

Merlin shuddered and looked down at him.

“I think you’re under an incredible amount of pressure. I think I scrambled your brain a bit and you started thinking nonsense.”

“Scrambled my brain?” Merlin asked, indignant, pushing himself up on his elbows.

“What other possible reason could you have for thinking I was a serial killer?”

“Actually, my brain had only gotten as far as ‘stalker’.”

Arthur propped himself up on one arm. “It didn’t occur to you that I’m just that good in bed.”

“Prat,” Merlin said, reaching out to caress Arthur’s cheek.

Arthur crawled up Merlin’s body, hovering over him on hands and knees. He stared into Merlin’s eyes, smiling. Waiting. Merlin lowered himself until his was lying flat on the bed. He looked up at Arthur and smiled.

Arthur leant down and kissed Merlin lightly, teasing. “Your prat.”

Merlin laughed and wrapped his arms around Arthur, pulling him against him. Arthur kissed Merlin, deep and wet, shifting his hips to lie between Merlin’s legs. He pulled back gently when he realized Merlin was now only half-hard.

“Sorry,” Merlin murmured.

Arthur shifted his attention to Merlin’s neck, licking over the mark he’d made earlier. He continued his path along Merlin’s neck, switching between licks and sharp nips until he reached his collarbone. He sank his teeth into the ridge of bone barely protected by pale skin.

“Arthur!” Merlin shouted, arching up against him. He thrust one hand through Arthur’s hair, holding his head against him.

“Hmm?”

“I—guh!” he cut off as Arthur closed his mouth over Merlin’s right nipple, rubbing it gently between his lips. He caught it gently between his teeth and tugged, only letting go when Merlin was reduced to plaintive sobs. He licked the swollen flesh lightly before moving on to its twin, taking the hoop between his teeth and pulling lightly.

Merlin’s body was on fire. He could barely restrain himself from grabbing Arthur by the shoulders and shoving him down to his cock.

Arthur continued on his merry way down Merlin’s body, tracing random patterns with his tongue and stopping at particularly sensitive spots to suck up a mark he knew the pale skin would carry for days. He finally reached the edge of Merlin’s briefs. He hooked his fingers over the edge and looked up at Merlin.

“May I?” he asked.

“I…I can’t…”

“Tell me,” he said, his breath brushing the barely-exposed head of Merlin’s cock.

Merlin lifted his head off the pillow with a groan, glaring down at the other man. “I can’t bloody _think_!”

Arthur smirked at him. “Good,” he said, then took the tip of Merlin’s cock into his mouth.

“Gods!” Merlin choked out, arching off the bed. 

Arthur pulled off quickly, working fast to divest Merlin of his briefs. In seconds, he was back between Merlin’s legs, one hand pressing down on Merlin’s hip to hold him still while the other caressed his balls. He took Merlin into his mouth again, slowly sliding down his length until his nose met the coarse curls at the base of Merlin’s cock.

Merlin threw his head back on the pillow, gasping for breath. It had been too long. His own hand just could not live up to the hot, wet suction currently engulfing his cock. It had been so long that he knew he wouldn’t last.

“Arthur,” he whispered. He curled his hand in Arthur’s hair. “Arthur,” he said more forcefully. “I’m going to come.”

Arthur squeezed Merlin’s hip to let him know he heard, then began another slide up Merlin’s cock, twisting his tongue around it as he went. Merlin tried to hold on, thinking Arthur was pulling off. He gasped as Arthur thrust back down, sucking him in one last time. Merlin lost his last, tremulous grasp on his control and came, shouting Arthur’s name. 

Arthur gently suckled Merlin through his orgasm, pulling off when Merlin began to whimper at the friction on his over-sensitized flesh. Arthur slid back up his lithe frame, stopping to kiss the marks he had put on him earlier as he went. He paused to look down at Merlin, taking in his blissful expression. Merlin opened his eyes and smiled at Arthur, a predatory glint in his eyes.

Before Arthur knew it, he was flat on his back, being kissed breathless by Merlin. He reached out and grasped Merlin’s hips, moaning into the kiss as Merlin rocked against him.

“Condoms?” Merlin asked.

“Merlin, you don’t have to—” he cut off with a gasp as Merlin ground particularly hard into his lap. “Bedside table!” he said.

Merlin cursed as he realized they were too much in the middle of the bed for him to reach the table from his position. He reluctantly clambered off Arthur and made for the drawer. Behind him, he heard Arthur moving around in the bed. With a sharp pull, he opened the drawer, finding both condoms (in an unopened box, thankyouverymuch) and lube. He turned, a grin of triumph on his face, and froze when he took in the sight before him. 

Arthur had pushed the covers down and slid off his boxer briefs, leaving him sprawled insolent and golden against the navy sheets. 

“Merlin?” he asked softly.

With concerted effort, Merlin closed his mouth and climbed back onto the bed, straddling Arthur’s stomach on his knees. He dropped the condom packet onto Arthur’s chest. He then opened the lube and coated his fingers.

“Oh, God, Merlin!” Arthur said, realizing what Merlin was about to do.

Merlin gave him a sharp smile and reached behind him. He groaned and arched his back as he slid one finger inside. The movement caused his now half-hard cock to brush against Arthur’s fully-alert erection.

Arthur hissed and grabbed Merlin’s hips, desperate to control the contact.

“Mmm,” Merlin hummed as he slid in another finger. His head was tilted back, the long, clean line of his throat completely exposed.

Arthur couldn’t stand it; he sat up, pulling Merlin tightly against him as he lavished Merlin’s throat with wet kisses and sharp bites.

“More,” Merlin whispered as he slid a third finger inside.

“More?” Arthur asked, taking Merlin’s nipple ring between his front teeth.

Merlin tilted his head forward, catching Arthur’s gaze. “More,” he demanded.

Arthur quickly grabbed the condom packet, which had gotten stuck to his stomach when he sat up. He tore it open with care, not wanting to tear the condom or lose the warmth of Merlin’s lanky body against his. He cried out in triumph as he got it open, then watched with breathless attention as Merlin took it from him and slowly eased it down his cock with thumb and forefinger. Arthur’s hands went back to clutch at Merlin’s hips, lifting him as Merlin reached down to coat Arthur’s cock with lube before moving it into position.

Arthur held Merlin steady, biting his lip to keep from crying out in desperation. At the first pull of Merlin’s muscles around his cock, it took everything he had to keep from thrusting sharply into that welcoming heat. Merlin’s hands clenched on his shoulders as he slowly rocked his way down onto Arthur.

“So good,” Merlin gasped, pressing his forehead against Arthur’s. “So close,” he said, sliding down that last inch to seat Arthur fully inside him.

“Merlin,” Arthur sighed, taking Merlin’s lips in a heated kiss.

“Move,” Merlin replied between kisses.

Arthur wrapped one arm around Merlin’s waist and put his other hand on the bed behind him for leverage. He slowly began rocking his hips against Merlin, only pulling out a bit before sliding back in. It didn’t take Merlin long to become frustrated by the slow and shallow rhythm. He dug his fingers into Arthur’s shoulders and back as he took over the movement, lifting himself up and sliding back down with a twist to his hips.

“Merlin!” Arthur shouted, his orgasm hitting him suddenly and forcefully. He bit down onto Merlin’s clavicle, tasting sweat, arousal and a hint of blood as he emptied himself into Merlin.

Merlin let out a wordless shout as he was torn between the pain in his shoulder and the pleasure spasming through him as he felt Arthur’s orgasm shudder through him.

Arthur tilted his head back to gasp in lungsful of air. He gently leaned back until he was lying flat on the bed, Merlin a lanky, boneless mass on top of him. 

Merlin groaned lightly as he lifted off Arthur, feeling keenly the loss of the other man inside him. Arthur slid from the bed and stepped into the en suite to deal with the condom and clean up. He came back with a damp flannel to clean Merlin. He chuckled when he found Merlin sprawled across the bed. He had been right; Merlin looked amazing against the navy blue sheets. 

“Come here,” Arthur said softly as he knelt on the bed.

“Mmm…comfy,” Merlin replied. He reached out a hand and stroked it gently down Arthur’s thigh. “You come here.”

Arthur gently cleaned the evidence of their lovemaking off Merlin’s stomach, tossing the used flannel in the general direction of the clothes hamper. He slid down beside Merlin, pulling him against him as he tugged the sheets and duvet up over them.

“All right?” Arthur asked, pressing a soft kiss to Merlin’s forehead.

Merlin snorted. “ _I_ was fantastic. You were all right.”

Arthur chuckled and nipped Merlin’s ear.

Merlin hummed. “I can see my way to upgrade you to amazing.”

“You’d better.”

Merlin leaned up to kiss Arthur properly, the kiss no less passionate for its tenderness.

Arthur stroked his hand back through Merlin’s hair. “Better get some sleep. Your ride will be here early.”

“I suppose that means you’re not up for another round?”

“I’ve created a fiend!” Arthur replied with mock horror.

Merlin shuffled down, resting his head on Arthur’s chest. He wrapped his arm around the other man’s waist and settled in for a good night’s sleep.

“Just for that, I’m not blowing you in the shower,” Merlin said before falling asleep.  
*****

Teddy Altman was dying. At least, he hoped he was dying. Because if he had to live the rest of his life like this, dying would surely be the better option. He rolled his head carefully on the pillow and whimpered, both at the movement and the sharp pain in his right ear. He carefully opened one eye and took in his surroundings, his brain managing to recognize the spare room at Hannah’s through the fog of what could only be described as an Epic Hangover. He lifted himself up onto his elbows, and when the room stopped spinning without him hurling up whatever was in his stomach, he decided that he would be able to make it out of bed. 

He gingerly got himself out of the bed and followed the heavenly scent of coffee to the kitchen. He stopped dead in the doorway when he saw Hannah standing in the kitchen. He started to take a step backwards, intending to sneak down the hallway to the bathroom before she turned and saw him. He needed lots of water and a shower and then he could face Hannah. Because Hannah was going to yell at him, and he was pretty sure that if she yelled at him in his current state, his head would explode.

“Don’t even think about it. I may be half dead, but I am still quick enough to catch your scrawny hide,” Hannah said without turning around. Her voice was husky with overindulgence.

Teddy sighed and lowered his head. “The fuck?” he said out loud when he noticed what he was wearing.

“Oh, like you have a reason to complain,” she replied, keeping her voice low. She turned to face him, two cups of coffee in her hands. She set one on the table for him and clutched the other to her chest.

He looked at her carefully. There was something different about her, but he couldn’t force his brain into a gear that could figure out what it was. Shrugging, he sat down and drew the coffee to him. “Is it poisoned?” he asked.

She lifted an eyebrow at him as she sat down. “If I were going to kill you, I’d wait until after your hangover had passed; let you suffer twice.”

“In that case, would you mind explaining the purple Fraggle Rock t-shirt?” he asked, pointing to his chest.

“I have fringe!” she said, pointing to her face.

 _Oh_ , that’s _it_ , he thought, really looking at her. She did, indeed, have a thick fringe reaching to just above her eyebrows. It looked good on her.

“Who did that?” he asked.

“Seeing as it’s actually straight, it must have been Gina. The why is a little fuzzy.”

“A little fuzzy? I can barely remember anything. Why does my right ear hurt?”

“You got two more piercings in it.”

“Then what did you get?”

Hannah pushed back her hair to show a new stud high in the cartilage of her left ear.

“Looks good,” he said, taking a long pull of his coffee. He knew his body needed water, but the coffee was so damn good. So damn enticing, so damn…

“You’re not hungover,” he said, accusingly.

She grinned at him as she took a drink of her coffee.

“Where is it?” he asked, looking around.

“There’s a dose for you in the fridge.”

Teddy stumbled over and pulled open the door, nearly whimpering in pleasure when he saw the glass covered in plastic wrap. He took it out, tore off the wrap and tossed the contents of the glass back in one go. He grimaced, but new it was worth the taste of dead skunk in his mouth. Gina Atreides’ special hangover remedy was a family recipe older than the written word, or so she and Elle swore. He didn’t care how old it was and he didn’t care if actually contained placenta, as Elle had once mischievously claimed— _Oh, better not think about that_ , he thought as his stomach took a quick dip—it worked, and that was all that mattered.

“What time is it?” he asked, rejoining her at the table.

“Seven.”

“Fuck.”

“You want to shower and change here or go home?”

“I still have some clothes in the spare room. I’ll change here.”

“Okay. Gina should be back soon with Merlin.”

“Gina made us hangover goodness _and_ volunteered to pick up Merlin? The woman’s a saint.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be to sure about that. I’m pretty sure I signed a contract to babysit her sprog at a moment’s notice for the first six years of its life.”

“Still…hangover goodness.”

“Indeed,” Hannah replied, lifting her mug to him in a toast.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Teddy dared to broach the subject that was really bothering him.

“So…I don’t have to wear the shirt all day, right?”  
*****

Arthur, Merlin had discovered, was a grumbler. He had grumbled at the alarm clock when it had gone off at oh-God-thirty. He had smacked it and then grumbled when the snooze went off. He had nearly purred, however, when Merlin had slid a hand down his body to stroke his morning erection. 

He had growled as he swept Merlin out of bed and dragged him into the bathroom. He went back to grumbling when Merlin had snatched up Arthur’s toothbrush and begun brushing his teeth. Arthur reached into a drawer and pulled out a new toothbrush, carefully opening it in front of Merlin before brushing his own teeth. He had nearly choked on toothpaste foam when Merlin had smiled broadly at him around his toothbrush.

The growling was back, along with groans and panting, when Merlin went back on his word and _did_ blow him in the shower. By the time he had reduced Arthur to a babbling orgasm, Merlin was rather sure that a scan of his scalp would show permanent impressions of Arthur’s fingers on it.

Babbling or not, Arthur had returned the favor, finally bringing Merlin off with a deft flick of his tongue and the teasing of Merlin’s slightly sore arse.

Arthur grumbled again when the intercom buzzed as he and Merlin were sharing morning tea.

“Yes?” he said into the speaker.

“Mr. Penn, there is a Miss Gina Atreides here to see you,” came the voice of the concierge.

“Send her up,” Arthur said, surprised.

“That’s probably my ride,” Merlin said.

“You know Gina?”

“I got my nipple pierced at her place.”

Arthur’s cheeks heated as he remembered the piercing and the joy he had taken in playing with it the night before. He turned to see Merlin sporting a similar blush.

“I didn’t realize you were friends with the Ladies Atreides.”

“Ladies?” Merlin asked, confused.

“Yes. While they are considered the pitch-black sheep of the line, both of them are in line for the throne. They’re down a ways, mind, but they’re of the peerage.”

“And they own a tattoo and piercing parlor?”

“Oh, yes. My father is constantly scandalized by them; it’s why I made it a point to introduce myself to them. I think part of the reason he wanted me to have children was to bump them down in the succession.”

“So, you’re in line for the throne? You do have a bit of the royal prat about you.”

Arthur took a swipe at Merlin’s head, ruffling his hair. 

A knock at the door interrupted the discussion. 

Arthur checked to sure it was Gina before opening the door with a smile. “Gina!” he said, enveloping her in a hug.

“Well, you look well-shagged,” she said when he released her.

“Twice,” Merlin said as he joined them in the foyer.

“ _Mer_ lin,” Arthur scolded.

Merlin merely grinned and hugged Gina. 

“We’ve got to get going. Hannah will have had time to sober up and she’ll be screaming for an explanation,” she said.

“I suppose she won’t take ‘I really needed a good shag’ as a reason?” Merlin asked.

“She might. Get your bag; I don’t want to have to fight too much traffic to get you home.”

Merlin nodded and headed for the living room, where he’d left his bag after showering and changing this morning.

“You look good,” Arthur said.

“It’s the pregnancy glow. Comes from heaving up everything in your stomach first thing in the morning.”

“Congratulations! Did you, er…?”

“Flying solo.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to tell Father. Please, let me tell him before any announcements get made.”

Gina rolled her eyes. “One of these days, one of you is going to have to grow up.”

“You know, Morgana keeps saying that, but I don’t believe her, either.”

“Ready,” Merlin said as he rejoined them. He gave Arthur a smile and a longing look.

Gina sighed. “I’ll be in the hall for three minutes. After that, I’m cat-calling through the door until he gets his arse out there.”

Arthur laughed as she stepped outside. He turned and pulled Merlin into his arms. “Be careful today. If—”

Merlin silenced him with a kiss. “I will. Don’t let this be about anything but us. Give me a little more time to just be giddy and well-shagged.”

Arthur laughed and kissed him. “Call me tonight; let me know how your day went.”

“Yes, sweetie.”

Arthur wrinkled his nose.

“Not sweetie?”

“Not sweetie.”

“I’ll ponder an appropriate nickname over autopsies, then.”

“That’s…mildly revolting.”

“We could just go with ‘pratface’.”

Arthur laughed and kissed him again.

“Merlin and Arthur sitting in a tree,” came a loud voice from outside.

“Dear God, go stop her,” Arthur said, letting go of Merlin and pushing him toward the door. “Must you be such a child?” he asked Gina as he opened the door.

“Bye, Arthur. Give Morgana my love,” she said, taking Merlin’s arm and leading him to the lifts.

Arthur watched them until the lift doors closed. He stepped back inside his apartment and allowed himself a few more moments to recall the hours he’d spent with Merlin. Then he tucked it away and got ready to head for the office; it was a trial day, after all.

“So, you’re royalty,” Merlin said to Gina as they rode down in the lift.

“In a roundabout way. It’s nothing too fancy.”

“Mm-hm. And Arthur is also in line for the throne?”

“Yes. But it’s vulgar to discuss these things if you’re above forty spots.”

“And where is Arthur?”

Gina smirked at him as the lift doors opened.

“Forty-two. And for what it’s worth, I think you’d make a lovely Lady Penn.”

“I hate you.”

“Popular opinion this morning,” she said, leading him to the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've turned off anonymous comments because I was tired of the abuse. The tags clearly state Adam Lambert is not in this fic. If you came here looking for him, please direct your ire at the AO3 tagging system, not me.


	8. Part VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone tries to go about their normal business, but the Stalker has other ideas.

**Part VIII**  
“I take it from the new ‘do that you and Merlin spent the evening doing each other’s hair?” Jack asked Hannah, eyeing her new hairdo.

Hannah blew at her fringe as she glared at him and poured her coffee. At Jack’s pouting look, she topped off his mug as well.

“Looks good,” Jack said.

“Gina did it. I was conned by Teddy and Tosh. Who, by the way, are no longer allowed to play together.”

“You realize they share a lab.”

“That’s not playing; that’s work. I mean they are not allowed to play together outside of work without supervision. _Proper_ supervision. You do not count. Those two could bat those chocolate browns at you and you’re suddenly in your pants at Piccadilly singing Sondheim’s greatest hits,” Hannah explained as they moved toward their desks.

“Ouch,” Jack said, rubbing his hand over his heart. “Harsh, Han. Harsh.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true,” she said, sitting down.

“DS Summers-Fogg?”

Hannah looked up as the young officer held an envelope out.

“Yes?”

“This was left for you at the desk,” he said.

Hannah’s eyes lit up. “Thank you,” she said, snatching it out of his hand.

“Stop!” Jack said, grabbing Hannah’s wrist.

“What?”

“We got another ‘present’ from Merlin’s stalker yesterday. The last time we got a body, we got a letter the next day.”

“I am aware of the course of events.”

“And you’re just going to open an envelope that was left for you at the desk?”

Hannah laughed. “Relax, Jack. I recognize the handwriting. It’s from an old friend.”

Jack let go of her wrist and sat back; he had learned a while ago that “old friend” was code for “super secret scary stuff you don’t need to know, so sit back and shut up”. 

“I should have known you wouldn’t let the surveillance thing go,” he said.

She grinned at him as she opened the envelope. She groaned when she pulled out a piece of paper.

“What’s wrong?”

She handed him the paper. ‘Nada’ was written across it in black marker.

“Care to interpret?”

“It means no one came near the lab last night.”

“That’s good, right? It means Merlin won’t have any letters waiting for him?”

“It means that we don’t have any leads. I called in a favor for nothing. Damn it.” There were a lot of things in the world that Hannah hated; feeling useless was definitely in the top five.

Jack dropped the paper on his desk.

“Or…” Hannah began.

“Or?”

“Or it tells us that our guy wasn’t at the lab last night, waiting for a chance to sneak in.”

“So where was he?”

“He should have been waiting for a chance to give Merlin a letter,” Hannah said. “If he wasn’t there, then he had to have been looking for Merlin elsewhere. Maybe near the flat? No, I’d have seen. Or would I?” Hannah said, her voice getting quieter as she talked more to herself than to Jack.

“Did we ever get any confirmation on that private security analysis you had done?” Jack asked, bringing her back to the moment.

Hannah gave him a blank look for a moment, then grinned. “You know, it completely slipped my mind to ask them last night,” she said, reaching for her mobile. She knew better than to call the Atreides from a police line.

“For God’s sake, what? I’m trying to sleep for two, here!” came the answer on the other end.

“Gina, my love. I had a quick question about that security analysis you started the other day.”

“Ugh. You wouldn’t believe the number of sex offenders who walk by our shop. It’s a bit frightening, really,” Gina replied.

“Oo-kay. Not the answer I was looking for.”

“I had to drive your and Elf’s _spectacularly_ drunk arses home last night. And you, missy, are a very grabby drunk. Then I had to go home and tuck in my horrifically inebriated sister. And _then_ , after spending 20 fun-filled minutes this morning making noises that would terrify a velociraptor as I heaved into my loo, I had to go pick up your flatmate. Who was adorably shagged out and sporting some magnificent love bites that were barely concealed by his collar. I returned him to you, watched him try to stutter through an explanation which mainly consisted of, ‘I really needed a good shag and it’s all Tosh and Teddy’s fault,’ and left before you thanked me for the lovely job I did on your fringe. So I am going to answer you any damned way I please.”

Jack choked back a laugh, having caught a few of the more loudly-shouted words, as Hannah stared at her phone with wide eyes.

“Er, everyone says the fringe is a good look for me?” she said by way of apology.

“Of course it is,” Gina huffed. “Much better than the fauxhawk Elf was trying to talk you into.”

Hannah put her forehead in her hand. “Remind me to kill him.”

Gina snorted. “Yeah, tell Elle you want to kill Elf. _That’ll_ go over well.”

“Anyway, about that analysis?”

“Well, aside from the sex offenders, we saw one wanted criminal and 20 average citizens.”

“And?”

“You know, you cold let me stretch out the suspense longer.”

“And I could make it so the sprog’s first word is cock ring.”

Jack’s eyes widened in equal parts mirth and horror. Hannah waved him off.

“That’s two words, but well played,” Gina said. “All right; there were three people who were on the footage who were interesting because we couldn’t find anything about them. No match in the facial database and nothing in the crime databases. Elle is cross-checking with more obscure systems, but it may take a while.”

“Can you send me images of those three people?”

“Of course. As soon as Elle wakes up, I’ll have her e-mail them to you. Why do you want them? If we couldn’t find them in the police database, you surely won’t find them.”

“I want to show them to Merlin to see if he recognizes anyone. Plus, I have some obscure systems of my own,” she said, fingering the envelope she’d received that morning. “Why can’t you send them now?” she asked, getting back on track.

“You know how you are about no one touching your weapons? Elle’s like that with her computers. If she’s not up in an hour, I’ll wake her and have her send you your photos. Deal?”

“Not like I have a choice,” Hannah muttered.

“‘Thank you’ is the appropriate response, Hannah.”

“Yeah, I had the etiquette lessons, too. I just chose to sacrifice the brain space for them to more important things.”

Gina sniffed. “Peasant.”

Hannah laughed. “Thank you, Gina. Later,” she said, then hung up.

“The two of you are very weird together,” Jack commented.

Hannah grinned. “I know. But wait until you hear what she told me.”  
*****

Merlin rolled his head around, trying to work out the kinks in his neck, as he walked toward his desk. He had dallied as long as he could. He had stopped in the office’s break room to get some coffee—apparently swanning off for the night negated your coffee privileges at the Chateau du Summers-Fogg. Hannah had actually growled at him. He had had a brief chat with a few co-workers, but had finally admitted he needed to get to work. With a final wave to Katie the Temp, he headed for his desk and the day’s work.

“Son of a _bitch_ ,” Merlin said, staring at his desk. “Bones!”

“What?” Sarah Jane said as she came out of her office.

Merlin pointed. “Please tell me those are lab results.”

“No, no they’re not,” she said, pulling out her mobile. “This is Dr. Smith. I need Dr. Sato and Mr. Altman in my lab with an escort. And call Harkness and Summers-Fogg.”

Merlin felt his stomach turning to ice. He had been so hopeful the pleasant feelings of last night would continue during the day.

“Merlin?” Sarah Jane said, taking his arm. “Merlin, let’s go wait in my office.”

“No. We need to make sure no one goes near my desk while we wait. Tosh will have kittens if her scene gets contaminated any more than it already has,” he replied, shaking his head. “Damn it.”

“Is there anyone I should call for you?”

Merlin closed his eyes. Apparently, though she hadn’t been directly involved, Sarah Jane had been aware of last night’s escape from the flat.

“No, he’s in trial today. I don’t want to distract him until we have something to tell him. You already called Hannah and Tosh, so now we wait.”

“I’ll send Wilding for more coffee,” Sarah Jane said, squeezing his arm briefly before walking away.

 _Damn it._  
*****

“Why didn’t she wake Elle right away?” Jack asked.

“I think because Gina likes all her fingers attached to her hand. It’s no big deal; it’s quiet, we have time.”

“You _did not_ just say that,” Jack groaned.

Like clockwork, the phone on Hannah’s desk rang.

“Summers-Fogg. What? Is he all right? We’re on our way.”

Jack was already up and in his coat before Hannah had hung up. “Merlin?”

“Yes,” Hannah said, dialing her mobile. “Gina? Wake her up. _Now_. Merlin has another letter.”  
*****

“Nice suit,” Jack said to Teddy as he and Hannah arrived at the ME’s office.

Teddy rolled his eyes inside the decon suit. “You make _one_ zombie movie joke regarding protective wear and Tosh never lets you forget it.”

“Let that be a lesson to you.”

“Oh, it is.”

“Where’s Merlin?” Hannah demanded, still pissed that Jack had edged her out at the elevator, forcing her to take the stairs and get there well behind him.

“He’s in Bones’ office. I’m heading back to the lab with this,” he said, holding up a metal case.

“Our letter in there?” Hannah asked.

“Yep. Tosh is finishing with prints on Merlin’s desk. She wants me to get started on this.”

Hannah looked at Jack. “You go with him. I’ll check on Merlin.”

Jack nodded and looked at Teddy. “You don’t have to wear the suit the whole way back, do you?”

Teddy rolled his eyes. “What do you think?”

“I think I should definitely be more careful about what I say around Tosh,” Jack said, holding the door open for him.

“Word.”

Hannah burst into Sarah Jane’s office, only to stop suddenly when confronted with a very pissed-off Merlin.

“If you ask me if I’m okay, I will wing this coffee mug at your head,” he seethed.

“Got it,” Hannah said, nodding and closing the door behind her. “Did Tosh say how long it would be before you could get back to work?”

Merlin sighed in relief and sat on the edge of Sarah Jane’s desk. He was inarticulately glad that Hannah was not going to be mother-henning or manhandling him. At the moment, at least.

“Hopefully within the hour. From what I could overhear before I was removed from the scene—”

“So you could be interviewed without being contaminated by what was being said by the responders,” Hannah interrupted.

“Right. Tosh said it didn’t look like there were a lot of prints. Not surprising, really. He seems to take pride in counter-measures.”

Hannah sat beside him and bumped his shoulder with hers. “That’s just going to piss Tosh off and push her harder, you realize?”

Merlin sighed. “Yeah. I don’t know who this guy should be more afraid of getting to him first: you or Tosh.”

Hannah snorted. “Want me to call Arthur?”

“Nah. He’s in court. I’ll call him later tonight,” Merlin said, rubbing his collarbone, pressing a mark Arthur had left.

“You know, Bones keeps dark chocolate in her bottom desk drawer behind her files. If you keep watch for me, I can have the lock on that drawer picked in 10 seconds.”

“How do you know where she keeps her chocolate?”

Hannah smiled sadly. “A long time ago, it was my business to know everyone’s secrets.” She smiled brightly. “Now I only use those powers for good. You know, to find chocolate or torture Jack.”

Merlin laughed.

Hannah chuckled and ruffled his hair.

“Your arse is singing,” Merlin said.

“What?”

“Your arse is singing.”

“Oh!” Hannah said, retrieving her mobile from her back pocket. The tune—something about a rabbit hole—let her know that she had received pictures. Gina had apparently managed to get Elle up and moving.

“Anything good?” Merlin asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Depends entirely on your definition of good. I have some photos I want to show you.”

Merlin set his mug down and steeled himself. “All right.”

She handed him her phone. “Let me know if any of these people look familiar to you.”

Merlin took it. The first photo was of a stocky fellow with what looked like a permanent sneer on his face. The kind of bloke you’d pass and take a quick look at due to his size, but probably wouldn’t give much thought to; big, but not menacing. He shook his head and scrolled to the next one.

Merlin sucked his breath in.

“What?”

“It’s silly.”

“It’s not silly if you recognize someone!” she said, leaning over to see the picture.

“He has serial killer eyes. Which means absolutely nothing. The guy could be an accountant for all I know; but those are serial killer eyes.”

Hannah had to agree; the man’s eyes were a very light blue and looked almost dead. Still, Merlin was right; in and of itself, those eyes meant nothing.

“All right. We’ll flag him for further investigation; just in case. What about the next one?”

Merlin scrolled down. “He looks familiar.”

“From where?” she asked, leaning in for a closer look.

“I don’t know.”

“Close your eyes and picture his face. Where is he from? How does he make you feel?” she asked quietly.

Merlin’s eyes snapped open. “That’s creepy; don’t do that.”

“I’m serious, Merlin!”

He sighed and closed his eyes. “I don’t know. I think I may have seen him recently? Passed him on the street or something?” He opened his eyes and looked at her. “I really don’t know.”

“All right. You’ve managed to get rid of one,” she said, taking her phone back. She sent off a quick message to Elle to keep looking at the last two men.

“Where did you get those?” he asked.

“Not important,” she said, slipping her phone back into her pocket.

“Will you take me to the lab? I don’t want everyone else to read the letter before I do.”

Hannah raised an eyebrow at him.

He rolled his eyes. “If you or Jack read it and find it too alarming, you won’t want me to read it and I _have_ to know.”

Hannah took out her notepad. “Okay. First, you’re going to tell me about your morning from the time I dropped you off.”

Merlin sighed and began telling her everything he could remember about the hour he had been out of her sight.  
*****

“You. Suck,” Teddy said, glaring at Jack.

Jack laughed. “All I said was that if Tosh asked if you had gotten out of the suit outside of the decon area, I couldn’t honestly say I’d be able to lie to her.”

Teddy shrugged into his lab coat and pulled his goggles on, letting them slide down to rest around his neck. “Jack, you lie so well I’d swear you’re part conman. I’ve gone out with you and watched you pick up women, remember?”

“Those were the old days, Elf. I’m a new man.”

“It was a year ago,” Teddy said, moving to the hood with the metal case. He slipped on a pair of gloves and opened the metal case, took the envelope out, and put it under the hood. He then reached in through the sleeves and opened the envelope. He pulled the letter out and shook the envelope for good measure. He slid his gaze to the readout.

“No toxins,” he said, taking it out of the hood. He put the envelope into a large evidence bag and handed it to another tech. “DNA,” he said. He carried the letter to the large light-up desk they’d used before, setting it down and staring at it.

Jack stood across from him, hands in his pockets. If there was one thing he knew about Tosh’s lab, it was that you kept your hands to yourself.

“Should we read it?” Teddy asked.

Jack shrugged. “It’s evidence. Kind of our job.”

“I just feel…dirty. And I should be able to distance myself better than this.”

“We can wait for Tosh.”

Teddy straightened his back. “No, I’ll do it.”

“Wait!” Hannah shouted as she and Merlin entered the lab. “We need to be here for this.”

Teddy waited for Hannah to stand beside Jack and for Merlin to join him on his side of the table. “Ready?”

“No. But let’s get it over with.”

Teddy opened the letter and carefully held it flat at the corners so Merlin could read it. With the minimal touching, hopefully they’d be able to find _something_ they could use. Juries did love good, solid forensics. He turned the lights on so Hannah and Jack could read it from the wall.

**_My Merlin,  
Can you feel me? I’m so close now. Can you feel me in you? I’m with you right now, my Merlin. Watching you. I see everything you do. I see what you are. You break my heart, my Merlin. But I forgive you. I love you. It won’t be long now._ **

“He didn’t sign it this time,” Hannah said.

“He didn’t have to. We know who it’s from,” Jack said.

Merlin looked up at them. “He’s _seen_ me. He forgives me,” he said, anguish in his voice. “He knows.”

Hannah and Jack looked at each other, dread lacing their voices.

“Arthur.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely comments and kudos. I'm sorry if you don't have an account and want to comment, but I had to turn off anonymous comments because of the abuse and AO3 recommended i do so. I don't mind constructive criticism, but I do mind unwarranted abuse.


	9. Part IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin is tackled, Arthur gets a visitor and Merlin has a sleepover.

**Part IX**  
Ianto had tried to keep his expression stern and businesslike when Arthur entered the office, but he did allow the corners of his mouth to tilt up just the slightest bit. The younger man was practically glowing.

“Are you ready for today?” he asked Arthur.

“Completely. We have our eyewitnesses and, maybe, Dr. Sato,” Arthur replied, going over Ianto’s trial plan in his head.

Ianto looked over his notes on his legal pad. “I don’t think we’ll have time for Tosh. We’ll have to push her to tomorrow.”

“You want to close with her in the morning? Let them have the afternoon to start the case?”

Ianto shook his head. “Montgomery won’t want to start in the afternoon. He likes going straight from his opening into testimony. Unless, of course, he decides to just rest his case.”

“Do you think he will?”

“No. He needs to raise doubt. He’ll need to put on some witnesses of his own. Call the lab and let Dr. Sato know she’s free for the day.”

Arthur nodded and picked up the phone, one finger tracing Tosh’s number from the file as he dialed with the other hand. “Voice mail,” he said to Ianto.

“Leave her a message about her testimony being bumped and tell her I’ll call her after court. She must be out at a scene.”

“This early?”

“Tosh is on call 24/7 if it’s something big. Both the perk and downfall of being the best.”

Arthur nodded, a sinking feeling settling in his stomach as he left the message. 

“Ready?” Ianto said, as Arthur hung up the phone.

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Be sure to turn your mobile off; you can check messages during the lunch break.”

Arthur nodded and did as he was asked.

Ianto grinned as he shrugged into his suit jacket. Time for battle.  
*****

It was surprisingly easy to slip in to the back of a courtroom to watch the proceedings of a mid-level trial. If you looked like you belonged and kept your head down, no one either questioned or noticed you. You could sit in the back and watch everything that happened; study every move everyone made. And no one would ever take note. Or care.

_Not normally my scene, but it stands to reason that this could be…educational._

Ianto Jones stood to call his first witness.  
*****

“What do you mean, ‘It’s going to voice mail’?” Merlin demanded.

“I mean, that when I call Arthur, I am being routed directly to his voice mail,” Hannah said, trying very hard to maintain her calm. 

Maintaining her calm was proving very hard to do, and had been for the past 15 minutes. As soon as Jack and Hannah had said Arthur’s name, Merlin had made a mad dash for the door, probably with every intention of getting to Arthur and throwing himself between Arthur and the proverbial (or literal) bullet. Hannah had flying-tackled him high about the waist, which had proved surprisingly futile; Jack had had to come in with a swipe to Merlin’s legs to bring him down. 

Hannah and Jack had lain on top of him for several moments before they were able to subdue the surprisingly strong young man. Teddy had secured the letter as evidence and then gone over to help, crouching next to Merlin’s head and admonishing him in a steady tone. It had gotten through to him much better than Hannah’s pleading and Jack’s threats (though, to be fair, Merlin _had_ bitten Jack’s hand).

“Then we have to go find him, _now_! We don’t even know if he made it out of his home this morning,” Merlin said. He was now sitting in Teddy’s chair, which was pushed back against his desk, with Hannah, Jack and Teddy barring the path to the door.

“He’s in court,” said a voice from behind the trio.

They all turned to look at Tosh, who had just entered the lab and was staring with disdain at the evidence of the earlier scuffle. “What happened here?” she asked.

“We read the letter, the doomsday twins had an epiphany out loud and Merlin had a minor freak-out,” Teddy explained.

“They tackled me!” Merlin protested.

“Twice,” Teddy added.

Tosh shot him a look.

Teddy raised his hands. “Hey, I only talked him down while they did the manhandling.”

“Arthur’s in court?” Merlin said, pulling them back on-topic.

“Yes. He left a voicemail while I was working. He said Ianto didn’t think he’d get to my testimony today, but to be ready for court tomorrow. He said Ianto’d call me later today with details,” she explained.

“Ianto makes everyone turn off their phones when they’re going to court. He keeps his on vibrate just in case, but his second chair is cut off,” Jack said.

Hannah lifted an eyebrow at how well Jack knew Ianto’s habits, but refrained from commenting.

“Then let’s call Ianto,” Merlin said.

“And tell him what? That you got another letter?”

“That Arthur is in danger! We need to get guards on him right now!”

“Merlin, calm down. Look, this stalker left a body for you yesterday,” Teddy began.

“Yeah, _that’s_ the thing to bring up,” Jack said.

Teddy glared at him before turning back to Merlin. “He probably already had that letter prepared for you before last night. He might not even know about Arthur. For all we know, he was threatening Hannah because you live with her.”

Merlin took this in. 

“Huh. It’s odd that _Elf_ is the voice of reason,” Jack said.

Teddy flipped him off while Hannah smacked him.

“He’s right, though. Maybe he thought you were in a torrid affair with me. After all, we did go get pierced together and you do live with me. It’s possible he’s forgiving you for betraying the Homosexual Agenda,” Hannah said.

“More like he’s forgiving you the idea that you let Hannah see you naked, but we’ll let her argument stand,” Jack said.

Merlin, whose brain was momentarily stuck on “Homosexual Agenda”, let out a deep breath. “Okay. We don’t need to storm the courtroom. But could someone warn him to be careful, just in case?”

Hannah squeezed his arm. “Sure we can. Come on, we’ll leave Teddy and Tosh to their work and get you back to Bones.”

Teddy watched as Hannah led the younger man out. “‘Let her argument stand’?” he softly asked Jack.

“Some days with Hannah, it’s just about appeasing the crazy,” Jack replied.

Teddy nodded. “Round table tonight?”

“What do _you_ think?”

“I think I’ll bring the beer.”

Jack ruffled his hair before following his partner out of the lab, Teddy’s glare following him.  
*****

“We have no further questions for this witness,” Montgomery said to the judge.

The judge nodded to Pansy Coughlin, one of Ianto’s eyewitnesses, who left the witness box. “With that, counselors, we shall break for lunch before continuing with the Crown’s case.” He sealed his thoughts with the bang of his gavel. 

Everyone stood until the judge had left, then turned to their own conversations. 

Arthur opened his mouth to comment on how Montgomery had shredded their first eyewitness, Martin Pepson, leading to Ianto having to pull a rebuttal line of questioning out of thin air to save the testimony. Ianto shook his head once, indicating they needed to wait until they left the courtroom. They quickly packed up and headed for the door of the courtroom.

“My client would still be interested in talking about a plea,” Mortimer Montgomery said, stopping them before they could leave.

“The Crown is not,” Ianto replied. He waited a moment for Montgomery to get out of his way, then stepped around him, Arthur following close behind.

“Well, that was a lot more scintillating than it is on television.”

Arthur’s head snapped up to look at the speaker and he swallowed a groan. “What are _you_ doing here?” he demanded.

“I came to watch my baby brother piss away his inheritance in a most gratifying manner,” the woman said. She turned to face Ianto. “You, my dear dish, were an unexpected and completely welcome bonus.”

This time, Arthur let the groan escape. “Ianto Jones, may I present my sister, Lady Morgana LeFey. Don’t let the title fool you; she’s a harpy.”

Morgana laughed and held her hand out to Ianto. “A pleasure, Mr. Jones.”

“The pleasure is mine. If you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do,” he said, shaking her hand.

“Of course. I am sure serious triage has been necessitated by Mr. Pepson’s testimony,” she said.

“See? Harpy,” Arthur said.

“You have ten minutes. Miss LeFey,” Ianto said, nodding as he hurried past.

Morgana slipped her arm through Arthur’s. “I’ll walk you back to your office. If you are nice, I’ll get you a kebab on the way.”

“How did you know where I was? Is this another Penn-patented ambush?”

“Well, it is an ambush, but of the Atreides variety.”

“Harpies, the lot of you.”

“Well, if you don’t want Elle to call me with gossip, you shouldn’t have Gina pulling car service for your _lovers_ ,” she said, dropping his arm when she realized he had no intention of going anywhere with her.

_“_ I didn’t call Gina; that arrangement was entirely out of my hands.”

Morgana put a hand to her heart in mock horror. “Arthur Penn, are you having someone _arrange_ your dalliances these days?”

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. “ _Merlin_ is not a dalliance.”

“Oh, dear. It’s like that, then.”

“It is.”

She slipped her arm back in to his. “Good. Then you can tell me all about him on the way to—”

“See? He’s _fine_ ,” Ianto said as he re-entered the courtroom, Hannah and Jack hot on his heels.

“What’s happened? Is Merlin all right?” Arthur asked, knowing full well that Hannah and Jack showing up was not a good thing.

“He’s fine. He got a—hello, I don’t know you,” Jack said, spotting Morgana. “Detective-Sergeant Jack Harkness,” he said, holding out his hand and turning on the charm. “And you are?”

“Married, but flattered,” she replied.

“Doesn’t answer his question, Gana,” Arthur said.

Morgana shot him a look—that nickname was _not_ to be used in public. “Morgana LeFey,” she said sweetly.

Jack took her hand and kissed the back of it. “A pleasure.”

Hannah snorted.

“Merlin?” Arthur prompted.

“There was a…delivery,” Hannah hedged, not wanting to say too much in front of Morgana without having Tosh run a full check on the woman.

“Sounds like cop talk. And you know how easily I can get bored,” Morgana pouted. She leaned up and kissed Arthur on the cheek. “Father expects you for Sunday dinner. It would please me to no end if you brought your new lover.”

“Only because then Father won’t be pestering you and Leon with questions about the pitter-patter of little feet.”

Morgana smiled, and there was a hint of the predator in the expression. “You know me so well.” She turned to the others. “Mr. Jones, DS Harkness, other officer I don’t know,” she said, nodding to them as she swept past and out of the courtroom.

“Is Merlin all right?” Arthur asked as soon as the doors closed behind Morgana.

“He’s perfectly safe. Let’s have this conversation back in your office, shall we?” Jack said.

Arthur nodded and followed them back to Ianto’s office.  
*****

“Merlin, I am so sorry to do this to you.”

Merlin looked up from his computer to see a teary-eyed Guinevere. He quickly shoved the autopsy report he was writing out of his mind and stood up to hug her. “What’s wrong?”

“I have to go. There’s been an accident—Lance!” she started crying into his shoulder.

Merlin’s heart stuttered. Could his stalker have hurt Lance? No, he had to have been here in London to leave his last letter to Merlin. Still…

“What happened?” he asked.

“There was an accident in the ambulance bay. Two of them collided. Lance was right next to one of them at the time…they just called; I have to go,” she said, pulling back.

“Of course you do. Thank you for all your help; you’ve been amazing.”

Guinevere pulled him into a rib-crushing hug. “You be careful and take care of yourself. I expect you to be sneaking food into hospital for Lance soon.”

He hugged back just as hard. “I will. I’ll be there before you know it.”

She pulled back and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I love you, you silly goose. Don’t get cooked.”

Merlin laughed and returned the kiss. “Be careful getting home. Although they may let you share a room in hospital while you recover, I highly doubt you’ll be allowed to share the bed.”

Guinevere grimaced. “Those beds are too uncomfortable anyway.”

He chuckled and gave her one last hug before she dashed out of the bay and headed for home. Merlin stared after her and wished he could run after his own man.  
*****

Merlin was pleasantly surprised to see Jack come in at the end of his day. “Please tell me you’ve apprehended this guy and Hannah is with him in an interrogation room.”

Jack flashed him a small smile. “No. We have, however, identified the body from yesterday; he was much easier than the previous bloke, whom we also identified. Well, Tosh identified him. We’re looking for a connection between them now. If we’re very lucky, we’ll find a link between them and one of the two men you semi-recognized from the pictures Hannah showed you.”

“The odds of getting that lucky seem very slim,” Merlin said as he slung his messenger bag over his shoulder.

Jack slung his arm around Merlin’s shoulders. “Luck is all about confidence, Merlin. For instance, have I ever told you about my brief, exhausting, but oh-so-worth-it fling with a pair of twin circus performers?” Jack asked as he led Merlin out to his car.  
*****

Hannah nearly pounced on Merlin as he entered the flat, an oddly-shaped green-and-silver thing in her hand.

“I’m fine, Hannah,” he gasped through the hug. “What _is_ that?” he asked once she’d let him go, indicating the item in her hand.

“This is a Koosh ball. I am to be tossing it in the air and between my hands while I think,” she said, her tone full of frustration and a bit of a pout.

“Is it working?”

“No. And those bastards won’t give me back my cricket bat!”

‘Those bastards’ turned out to be Teddy, Tosh, Ianto and Arthur, who were all in the living room. The large boards from their first roundtable were out in front of the fireplace. Teddy and Tosh were talking to each other, speaking just loud enough for the others to hear. Not that Arthur and Ianto were paying attention; Teddy and Tosh tended to speak in a lot of science-babble and tended to not actually finish their sentences out loud as the other one got the point and picked up the thread. Ianto and Arthur seemed to be going over thick files, writing and talking at the same time. Merlin presumed the information was from their ongoing trial. He fought back a flash of guilt as he realized his own problems were causing them to have to split their attention between him and their current trial.

Arthur looked up from his file and smiled at Merlin. Merlin could have sworn his lips tingled just at the thought of being kissed again. Arthur, seeming to know just what Merlin was thinking, blushed.

“Good gods,” Hannah groaned. She led Merlin to one of the armchairs. “We have work to do; no squishy feelings or violin moments allowed,” she groused.

“You realize she’ll be like this until you give her the bat back, right?” Merlin said.

“She’s not getting the bat back,” Tosh and Ianto said in unison.

“Trust us on this one, Merlin,” Teddy added.

Merlin looked to Jack for help. “I’m just her partner. Teddy lived with her. If he says no bat, no bat,” Jack replied.

“Cowards, the lot of you,” Hannah grumbled.

Jack looked around. “If we’re all here, who’s bringing the food? Bones?”

“Bones is home with Luke. He’s down from Uni,” Tosh said.

“I thought her son was fourteen?” Merlin said.

“He’s a genius. Literally,” Ianto said.

“And Tosh is not-so-quietly planning to lure him into her lab as soon as he graduates,” Jack added.

Tosh snorted. “That’s boy’s going to get snatched up for government work faster than you can say ‘Official Secrets’.”

“So…back to my original query: food?” Jack asked.

“Oh, I have Elle bringing pizza,” Hannah said, tossing the Koosh ball with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

“Elle’s coming?” Ianto asked, looking up from his file.

“Yes. She has some findings from her side investigation for us. I suggested that she could bring the pizza, as Papa’s is on her way,” Hannah replied, smiling sweetly.

Ianto forced a grin. Although the divorce had been amicable, he still carried a lot of guilt. Guilt Elle liked to use toward her own means—which seemed to be getting Jack and Ianto naked together with some sort of oil involved.

“You are a horrible person,” he said.

“You took my bat,” she replied, shrugging.

Merlin moved over to sit on the arm of the sofa, next to where Arthur was. Arthur made to move to give him room, but Merlin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right; I’m good here.”

“Merlin has a thing about sitting in odd places,” Hannah explained.

The doorbell rang and Hannah moved to answer it. “I expect my bat to have reappeared by the time I get back in here.”

“Not bloody likely,” Ianto said under his breath, shifting on the couch. Stuffing the bat beneath the cushions had seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, but it wasn’t exactly the most comfortable idea.

Hannah promptly returned with Elle in tow. Elle eyed the group and smiled broadly at Merlin and Arthur. “Aw, the lovebirds.”

“Don’t be nice to Arthur; he’s a thief,” Hannah said.

“Aw, did he steal your flatmate?”

“Hid my bat,” Hannah said before going into the kitchen to get plates and napkins.

Elle looked at Arthur with wide eyes. “You are either out of your ever-loving mind or you have balls of brass.” She looked at Merlin. “Well?”

Arthur coughed. “Merlin is not going to be describing any part of my anatomy to you.”

“Prude,” Elle said, sticking her tongue out at him as she flopped onto the armchair. She turned her head to look at the boards. “No evidence of sexual assault?” she said without turning to look at any of them.

“None,” Jack answered.

“No ejaculation found on the bodies or at the site?”

“No,” Tosh replied.

“Object penetration?”

“No,” Hannah said, coming back into the room.

Merlin looked around. While he and Arthur were completely confused, everyone else seemed to be listening intently to Elle. Ianto looked a little worried, but paid no less attention due to it.

“Your boy either can’t get it up or he doesn’t want to,” Elle said, turning away from the boards and reaching for one of the pizza boxes.

“Which would you guess?” Jack asked, earning a glare from Ianto.

“Me? I think he’s saving himself for Merlin. No one else is worthy of his seed,” she said before biting into a slice of meat feast pizza.

“You got all that just from looking at some pictures for a few minutes?” Arthur asked, more incredulous than awed.

“Elle used to be the finest profiler Scotland Yard had,” Ianto said tightly.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Ianto and Elle stared at each other. 

Elle finally broke the stare-off by rolling her eyes. “And now I put holes in people for a living.”

There was some stilted chuckling.

Hannah snorted and sat in another arm chair. “If you’re so bloody brilliant, where’s my cricket bat?”

“Under the sofa cushions; Ianto’s sitting on it,” Elle replied.

Hannah glared at Ianto. “It is _on_.”

“Shall we, perhaps, move to the information we’ve discovered since our last meeting?” Tosh suggested, walking over to sit between Arthur and Ianto.

“Smashing idea, Tosh,” Teddy said, sitting on the floor by the coffee table.

Hannah wrinkled her nose. “That one doesn’t work in your valley accent, either.”

Teddy shrugged and reached for a slice of pizza.

“So, what have we learned?” Merlin asked.

“Where’s Guinevere?” Jack interrupted. “I thought she’d be here.”

“Her husband was in an accident,” Merlin explained, grabbing a slice of cheese pizza.

Jack and Hannah shot each other a look. “What kind of accident?” Jack asked.

Merlin waved him off. “Two ambulances collided at the hospital.”

He missed the look between the detectives and Elle, who gave them a quick nod. She’d check it out; just in case.

“Our first victim is Liam Evans, 25, worked in a local accounting firm,” Tosh said, balancing a file on her lap. “He was followed by Errol Williams, also 25, a uni student.”

“William,” Jack said.

“No, Williams,” Tosh corrected, stressing the ‘s’.

“No, Liam is a form of William and Errol’s last name is Williams. He wants Merlin to remember, well, I think we know.”

Arthur reached up to put a hand on Merlin’s knee, squeezing lightly.

“All right. That’s one link between them. What else do we have?” Hannah asked, flipping open another file.  
*****

“I’m sorry to break this up, but I do have trial tomorrow,” Ianto said three hours later. “Keep me posted on any new developments.” He stood and gathered his things.

“I should be going, too. It’s about time for Gina’s nighttime heaving session. She likes to have someone there to swear at,” Elle said. “I’ll walk you out.”

“I’ll come with you two. I have to testify in the morning; I’ll want to be at my best,” Tosh said.

Hannah followed the trio to the door, locking it up behind them. When she returned to the living room, she found Merlin and Arthur talking quietly on the couch, and Teddy and Jack standing at the boards.

“I don’t think we’re going to get much more tonight,” she said as she joined Teddy and Jack. “Though I’d love to know how the little bastard got that letter into the lab without us knowing about it.”

“Maybe your friend’s lost their touch,” Jack said.

“Not bloody likely.”

“How come you can use Brit with your American accent and no one tells you it sounds funny?” Teddy asked.

Hannah slung an arm around his neck. “Because, my love, I have a bland American accent; while you sound like you grew up in sunny Cali eating Del Taco your whole life.”

“Man, I miss Del Taco,” Teddy said, sighing.

Jack laughed. “Come on, Elf. I’ll give you a lift. I know an all-night place that has some great artery-stuffing tacos. It’ll be just like home; with brown sauce.”

Teddy wrinkled his nose.

“Brown sauce is optional,” Jack amended.

Hannah followed them to the door.

“I still have my key; I can lock up,” Teddy said as he took his hoodie off the coat rack and shrugged into it.

“I’m doing the all night lock up and alarm; I have a feeling Merlin’s not letting Arthur go anywhere tonight.”

Teddy smiled and kissed her cheek. “Underneath that badass-I-have-a-dark-and-twisty-past exterior of yours, you’re a big ol’ softie.”

“Piss off,” Hannah said, tugging on his hair.

Teddy batted her hand away and opened the door.

“You’ll call me if Elle finds anything?” Jack asked Hannah.

“As soon as I hear. You do the same, yeah?”

“Yes. Night, Hannah.”

She smiled and closed the door behind the two men, engaging all the locks and the alarm system. She walked back into the living room to find Merlin and Arthur cleaning up the mess from dinner.

“You have him trained well,” Hannah said.

“Positive reinforcement,” Merlin replied.

“Well, have a good night. I’ve engaged the alarm. Make sure you close your door tightly,” she said, heading down the hall to her room.

Merlin could have sworn he heard ‘bowm-chicka-bow-bow’ drifting down the hallway after her.

Arthur smothered a laugh.

Merlin shook his head. “Hannah knows what tact means; she just doesn’t think it applies to her.”

“She put the alarm on, huh? I guess that means I’m staying the night.”

Merlin nodded solemnly. “I’d recommend removing the cricket bat before trying to sleep on the sofa.”

“Why you—” Arthur cut himself off by grabbing Merlin around the waist and taking his mouth in a teasing kiss.

Merlin quickly turned the kiss from teasing to hungry, nipping at Arthur’s lips and threading his fingers into Arthur’s hair with a happy groan. Arthur moaned in response, slipping his tongue between Merlin’s lips to deepen the kiss. After several minutes of passionate kissing and clawing attempts to rid each other of their shirts, Merlin ended the kiss with a sigh, leaning back slightly in the safety of Arthur’s arms.

“Either you let me in your bed or we’re finishing this on Hannah’s couch,” Arthur said, his voice raspy.

Smiling, Merlin hooked his hand into the waistband of Arthur’s pants. Arthur’s hips jerked as Merlin’s fingers brushed against his cock. Merlin tugged gently, leading Arthur down the hall to his bedroom. 

Arthur half-hazardly kicked the door closed behind them as Merlin pulled him into the room, lit only by the moonlight coming through the window. He barely had a chance to take in the décor before Merlin was kissing him and pushing him toward the bed. He growled and turned them, pushing Merlin onto the bed in front of him. After some mad scrambling, they managed to get on the bed, kneeling facing each other as they kissed.

“Ow!” Arthur whispered as Merlin caught his tie on his nose in his haste to get it off. He reached up and helped Merlin remove the offending article of clothing before taking his mouth again.

Merlin laughed into the kiss as he began unbuttoning Arthur’s shirt. He got frustrated halfway down and grabbed it tightly, pulling hard and tearing the shirt open. He giggled with glee at the sound of buttons flying across the room and onto the carpet.

“I liked that shirt,” Arthur said as he nipped at Merlin’s throat.

“You have others,” Merlin whispered, his eyes on his fingers sliding through the golden hair on Arthur’s chest. He tugged gently, smiling at the gasp it elicited from Arthur.

“That’s it,” Arthur said, pulling back from his exploration of Merlin’s ear. He grabbed the hem of Merlin’s jumper and pulled it up and off, disheveling Merlin’s hair. He moaned softly at the expanse of moonlight-lit pale skin before reaching out to settle his hands at Merlin’s hips.

Merlin sighed and reached out to pull Arthur back into his arms, only to find himself whirled around and pressed into the mattress. Before he could utter a complaint, Arthur’s lips and teeth were fastened at the base of his neck. Merlin groaned in pleasure, his fingers digging into the sheets beneath him. “Gods, _Arthur_!” he gasped.

“Mine,” Arthur whispered before trailing his hands and mouth down Merlin’s back. He dug his fingers into Merlin’s shoulders, causing Merlin to arch beneath him. He used his tongue to inscribe his name and a thousand dirty promises across Merlin’s back as he journeyed down to his waist. He bit lightly at the dip in his spine just above where the swell of his arse began.

“Arthur, please!”

Arthur fairly leapt off the bed and discarded his clothing. In a flash, he was pulling Merlin’s socks, trousers and pants off him, one hand in the small of Merlin’s back to be sure he didn’t go anywhere. His earlier urgency banked for a moment, Arthur laid down on top of his lover, reveling in the feel of Merlin’s body pressed entirely along the length of his own.

“Bedside drawer?” he asked with a nip to Merlin’s ear.

Merlin shook his head as he reached up under his pillow and pulled out condoms and lube.

“That’s either very hopeful or unsanitary,” Arthur said with a chuckle. He grabbed the lube and a condom, pressing a kiss to Merlin’s shoulder before kneeling up. He set his supplies aside and pulled a pillow down, settling it gently beneath Merlin’s hips. He caressed Merlin’s legs as he settled them so he could kneel between Merlin’s thighs. He trailed the fingers of one hand over the gentle curve of Merlin’s arse cheeks as he gently prepared him with the other. A sharp bite to Merlin’s left arse cheek pulled a strangled moan out of him, distracting him momentarily from the burn of a third finger sliding into him.

“Arthur,” he moaned, pressing his forehead to the mattress, causing his shoulders and spine to arch in a way that made Arthur’s mouth water.

Arthur emitted a growl that could have been a word before leaning forward to kiss Merlin’s neck. He slid his fingers free to roll on the condom with shaking hands. He slicked himself before reaching for Merlin. Merlin, eager to finally have Arthur inside him again, helpfully lifted himself to his hands and knees. He let out a breathless squawk as Arthur wrapped an arm around his waist, lifting him upright on his knees. He barely had a moment to breathe before Arthur was sliding into him. 

Arthur pressed his forehead to Merlin’s shoulder once he was fully seated. He took a moment to enjoy the feel of Merlin’s sweat-slicked skin sliding against his own from knee to shoulder. 

Merlin slid an arm back, wrapping around Arthur until his hand could curve around Arthur’s arse, urging him to move. He tilted his head back, resting it on Arthur’s shoulder, making an open invitation of his throat. Arthur gladly took it, kissing Merlin’s neck as he began a gentle, steady rhythm.

They moved together slowly, bodies always touching but for a few seconds of withdrawal and thrust. Merlin gave himself over to the passion of Arthur’s body and hands, letting himself drift on the intense pleasure. Finally, he couldn’t take it and reached up to slide his fingers into Arthur’s hair, pulling sharply.

“More,” he breathed.

Arthur slid the hand that had been teasing Merlin’s nipple down to caress his cock. His hand slid tightly and freely along the hard length, making Merlin almost purr in pleasure.

“Harder,” Merlin gasped.

“Next time,” Arthur promised. He took Merlin’s hip in his free hand, holding him steady for long, deep thrusts in time with the slow rhythm on Merlin’s cock.

Merlin whined, tightening his hands on Arthur’s hair and arse.

“Show me,” Arthur whispered, angling his hips for a particularly long slide against Merlin’s prostate.

“Arthur!” Merlin shouted, nearly weeping as he came.

The feel of Merlin’s body going completely lax against his, save for the internal muscles clutching him spasmodically, had Arthur shuddering over the edge right with Merlin.

After a few panting heartbeats, Arthur gently slid out of Merlin, smiling as the other man fell into a lax heap on his side. He climbed off the bed, thankful that Merlin had an en suite. He went in and cleaned himself up, bringing back a flannel for Merlin. He smiled when he saw Merlin had shoved the soiled duvet to the floor and was sprawled across the bed.

“Next time, you’re on clean-up,” he said as he gently ran the flannel over Merlin’s skin. When he was finished, he pitched the flannel over his shoulder into the en suite.

“But you take care of me so well,” Merlin sighed, snuggling into Arthur’s arms.

Arthur chuckled and pulled a sheet up over them, pressing a kiss to the mouth of his almost-asleep lover.  
*****

Hannah hummed as she walked down the hall to her kitchen. She caught a slight whiff of burned batter and prayed that Merlin hadn’t tried making waffles from scratch again. She loved the boy dearly, but she really wished he would stick to toaster waffles. And if she had to mock-yell at him about waffles, that would delay the serious ribbing he had in store.

She turned the corner into her kitchen to find a mess she couldn’t have imagined in her wildest dreams. There was still a sheen of smoke in the air—a quick look to the ceiling showed the smoke detector had been de-batteried; bowls, pots and pans everywhere; her counter was covered in sticky substances; and Arthur was working at the stove in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt that was rather tight on him.

“Ahem,” she said.

Arthur whirled around, batter-covered spatula in one hand. “Er, good morning?”

She took in the wide-eyed stare, on-end hair and flour-flecked face and raised an eyebrow. “I am sure there is a perfectly good reason why you decided to declare war on my kitchen.”

“Merlin was muttering about waffles in his sleep.”

“That’s so cute it’s nauseating.”

Arthur blushed.

She yawned and stretched her arms over her head, popping her back. “I do hope you’re planning on making enough for three. And cleaning up.”

“Of course. Absolutely.”

“Good. Then I’m for the shower,” she said, turning on her heel.

Arthur nodded and slumped, grateful for the reprieve.

“Oh, and Arthur?”

He looked up, mildly alarmed.

“The soundproofing on the rooms only works if the doors are completely closed. You guys might want to check that next time,” she said before disappearing down the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! I forgot the last chapter was a bit of a cliffhanger and real life exploded everywhere. Hopefully not so long before more updates!


	10. Part X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Arthur is embarrassed and Merlin threatens to murder him. Twice.

**Part X**  
There was a path of subtle bite marks leading from Merlin’s right collarbone down across to his pierced nipple. He traced it lightly with his fingertips, testing the sensitivity of the skin. He smiled and tilted his face back under the shower’s spray. He’d be feeling those marks all day, every time his clothing brushed against his flesh. It made him feel marked in a way that had nothing to do with fear or possession; only of belonging.

He shook his head as his thoughts took a decidedly sappy turn. 

He had had a brief moment of fear when he’d awakened to an empty bed, but then he’d remembered a press of warm lips to his cheek when he had still been more asleep than awake. The soft kiss had been followed by a comment about breakfast. The memory of those words had brought him fully awake. Hannah was very particular about who she let work in her kitchen. When he hadn’t heard any screaming, he had figured either Hannah was still asleep or Arthur had somehow charmed her into letting him use the kitchen.

Which was why he was alone in the shower, touching the marks Arthur had left on his body, rather than touching Arthur himself. 

_Hell with that_ , Merlin thought and quickly finished his shower. If he played his cards right, he might get breakfast _and_ some kitchen necking.  
*****

Arthur’s concentration was centered on the waffle iron, which had finally stopped smoking. It had produced fluffy waffles belying its smoking state, but he had worried it would eventually burst into flames. He kept a wary eye on it as he plated up the breakfast, quite proud of himself for pulling it off. The kitchen had been intimidating before the waffle iron had shown signs of possession and he’d had to take the batteries out of the smoke detector. Add to that Hannah’s sudden appearance in the kitchen and the confession that she’d heard him and Merlin having sex, and it was a wonder he hadn’t burned the whole place down.

He was so lost in his thoughts of breakfast and eavesdroppers and Merlin in bed that he didn’t realize someone else was in the kitchen until long arms wrapped around his middle. He startled, but relaxed when he felt Merlin’s lips press against the pulse point in his neck.

“Mmm, waffles and Arthur. The perfect breakfast,” Merlin murmured against Arthur’s skin.

Arthur chuckled and turned in Merlin’s arms to steal a proper good morning kiss. He sighed happily as Merlin leaned into him, going almost limp as he wrapped around Arthur. Arthur slipped his tongue between Merlin’s lips, the fussy part of his brain thankful that he had brushed his teeth before heading to the kitchen. Merlin tasted like fresh mint and the rich flavor that was distinctly _Merlin_ ; a taste which had him turning them and pressing Merlin back against the island in the kitchen, his hands gripping Merlin’s slim hips to lift him onto the flat surface.

Merlin laughed into Arthur’s mouth as he was set on the island. The laugh quickly turned into a gasp as Arthur pressed forward into the space between Merlin’s open legs, deepening the kiss and tightening his hold on Merlin’s body. Merlin wrapped his legs around Arthur’s waist, happy with the turn the morning’s events were taking. It was almost enough to make up for having to shower alone.

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to get my waffles before you make a mess of my island and get stuff other than syrup on them. Or, you know, use up all the syrup _on_ him.”

Merlin groaned and broke the kiss, pressing his forehead against Arthur’s. Hannah really did have the most inopportune timing on the planet. He opened his eyes and saw that Arthur was decidedly pink. He decided he liked Arthur blushing; it was something unexpected from the usually unflappable man.

Arthur sighed and stepped back to help Merlin down off the counter. Merlin snuck in a kiss as he hopped down.

“Honestly, I’m not running a brothel here,” Hannah said as she walked over to the coffee pot. 

She was freshly showered and dressed for the day and Arthur found her a bit more imposing in her work suit, as opposed to the sleep pants and vintage _The Muppet Show_ tee she’d been wearing earlier.

Arthur waited, but Hannah, thankfully, seemed to be done embarrassing him for the morning.

That thought was quickly shattered when Hannah lifted a rather smirky eyebrow at him as she took a drink from her mug.

“Hannah, be a love and put on some tea,” Merlin said, sensing Arthur was still embarrassed.

Hannah moved to the other side of the kitchen and began puttering about with the kettle.

“She heard us last night,” Arthur said softly.

“Did she?” Merlin asked, placing several waffles on a plate. 

“Yes!” Arthur hissed.

Merlin shrugged. “Could have been worse.”

“ _How_?”

“I could have done running commentary,” she said as she sat down at the island, making a show of sitting on a stool instead of the island itself.

Arthur gave Merlin a panicked, wide-eyed look.

Merlin smothered a laugh, figuring he’d put Arthur out of his misery. The man hadn’t even had a chance to shower yet.

“Hannah, do you really want to get into bedroom etiquette? I seem to remember being awakened by a mighty crack when _someone’s_ bed frame broke in the middle of the night the weekend I moved in.”

“Hmm,” Hannah murmured, smiling. “Well, that wasn’t entirely my fault. I had help.” She grinned wickedly. “Hot, sweaty—”

“Never mind!” Merlin shouted, cutting her off. While he was curious about the identity of the lover Hannah kept so secret, he didn’t want to hear about his prowess over the breakfast table. Especially when Arthur was sitting there looking sleep-rumpled and wearing his shirt.

Hannah laughed. “All right, all right. As fun as this has been, I want to get in early to pick Elf’s brain. Arthur, I trust you’ll keep Merlin with you until you drop him off at work? Or do I need to stay and take him myself?”

Merlin waited until Hannah had a mouth full of coffee to reply for them both. “Oh, Arthur can quite manage the taking of me.”

Hannah choked for a moment before managing to swallow her drink. “Touché, Merlin. I’ll leave you two alone, then. Call me when you get to your lab.”

“Yes, mum,” Merlin said, giving her a cheeky grin.

She walked over and ruffled his hair before giving him a kiss on the cheek. To Arthur’s great surprise, she repeated the gestures with him before leaving the kitchen.

Arthur waited until he heard the front door’s locks engage before speaking. “She’s quite a bit insane, isn’t she?”

“In the very best of ways,” Merlin replied with a fond smile.

Arthur studied Merlin, wondering if he had thought this thing all the way through before getting involved with the other man. The thought was quickly shattered when Merlin turned his smile upon him.

“What?” Merlin asked.

_I’m falling in love with you_ , Arthur thought. “Er, we probably shouldn’t let Hannah and my sister become friends. I have a feeling that their forms of insanity would be quite compatible, which would spell disaster for the rest of us.”

“That’s a terrible thing to say about your sister,” Merlin said, laughing.

“You’re only saying that because you haven’t met her. Morgana is secretly evil; one day, she’s going to make her move and try to take over the world. And she’ll probably succeed, what with her patented doe-eyed innocent look.”

“Pair that with Hannah’s special forces training and mild sociopathy and we’ve got ourselves a recipe for an apocalypse.”

“So we’re agreed, then?”

“We keep them apart at all costs,” Merlin replied, nodding. “Pass the syrup?”

Arthur laughed and did as Merlin asked.  
*****

Arthur had cleaned up the kitchen while Merlin got dressed and ready for work. He then changed back into his trousers from the day before (keeping Merlin’s t-shirt, both because it smelled like him and because his own button-down was unwearable due to the previous night’s activities) before driving the two of them to his flat.

“Make yourself at home,” Arthur said as they entered the flat. “I’m going to grab a quick shower. If you could see your way to make more coffee, I might properly thank you for it later.”

“ _Or_ I could join you in the shower and you could thank me now,” Merlin replied.

Arthur gave him a quick kiss. “Unfortunately, no time this morning. However, the weekend is looming. I suppose I could arrange for a lie-in one morning.”

Merlin bit at Arthur’s lower lip. “I’m going to hold you to that,” he said, slipping his hands down to cup Arthur’s arse.

Arthur groaned and kissed Merlin deeply. “You do that,” he said before slipping away to his bathroom, the sound of Merlin’s grumbling following him.

Once in the bathroom, Arthur turned on the shower and slipped his mobile out of his pocket. He knew he should feel guilty about the call he was about to make, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Hello,” he said when the call was picked up. “I need your help with something. And if the lecture could wait for a time in the future, that would be preferable.”

He rolled his eyes as a tirade began on the other end of the line. “ _Would_ have been preferable,” he muttered.  
*****

As she headed in to work, Hannah realized she would have to stop by her desk to grab some notes before going to the lab to talk to Teddy. She blamed the lapse in mental acuity on the memories stirred up by Merlin at breakfast. She shook her head to clear her thoughts— _so_ not the thing to be thinking about while driving—and turned her car into the lot.

“You’re in early,” Hannah said when she found Jack at their desks.

“No rest for the wicked and all that,” Jack said, without looking up from the file he was reading.

“That saying is bollocks. I sleep fine quite often,” she replied before sitting in her chair.

Jack looked up at her. “Maybe I’m just not wicked enough.”

Hannah grinned. “I’m sure Ianto could help you with that.”

Jack ducked his head and went back to reading his notes. “Did you have a reason for coming this early?”

“Yes. There is a serial killer-slash-stalker after my flatmate and that pisses me off. You?”

“Same.”

Hannah tapped a pen on her desk for a moment. “Are you pissed enough to reconsider my plan?”

Jack leaned forward and kept his voice low. “You mean the plan where we have someone illegally place cameras into the lab in an attempt to catch this psycho?”

“Well, I worded it better, but that would be the one,” Hannah agreed.

“I might. But we keep Gina out of it.”

Hannah snorted. “How about we keep Gina from taking any active role in it? Because keeping Gina out of something Elle’s doing is like keeping you from ogling Ianto’s arse.”

Jack barked out a laugh. “All right. How do we do this?”

“Let’s you and I go get ourselves some breakfast. Better to plot subordination outside the shop, yeah?”

“I could murder a breakfast burrito,” Jack said, grabbing his coat as he stood.

Hannah laughed. “You’ve been hanging around Teddy too much.”

“I thought you liked it that I got along with your motley crew of strays.”

Hannah swiped the back of his head as they headed out for breakfast.  
*****

“Why, yes, that does sound like a ridiculous amount of fun.” Elle sighed. “All right, not fun, then. A very serious undertaking that could lead to great prosperity and happiness for all, yadda, yadda, yadda.”

Gina looked up briefly from the lily she was tattooing onto the shoulder of a young man. She lifted an eyebrow at her sister, who waved and grinned as she continued her conversation on her mobile. Gina rolled her eyes and went back to her work. Between concentrating on her craft and willing the morning sickness to abate until she was done with this appointment, she was unable to spare a further thought for whatever trouble her sister was about to get them into.

She finished up an hour later. As they had no other appointments scheduled for the morning, she flipped the sign on the door to ‘CLOSED’ and went in search of Elle.

She found her quickly, squirreled away in the small room with her almost obscene collection of computer equipment.

“So, what have you gotten us into this time?” she asked.

“In my defense, our expertise was requested. As was _my_ presence.”

Gina gave her sister a feral grin and leaned forward to place her hands on the arms of Elle’s chair, effectively trapping her sister in place. “Really? You think you’re going to go off gallivanting without me?”

Ell returned the smile and patted Gina’s stomach. “I know I am.”

Gina huffed and stood back. “If I’d known our friends were going to need us, I’d have never—”

Elle snorted. “Please. You hate crawling through airshafts and doing all the grunt work. You’d have been here on a link anyway.”

“You could at least let me make the argument.”

“I could, but that would cut down on our prep time. And we want to have everything moving before Jack has an attack of conscience and calls the whole thing off.”

“Point. All right, I’m going to go make sure we’re locked up tight, vomit, and then I have something to go attend to before helping you with whatever illegal endeavor you’re currently plotting.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Elle said, before spinning herself back around in her chair.  
*****

Hannah practically skipped her way down the stairs into the lab. She was feeling extremely good about her morning so far; getting Jack to agree to her plan had been a huge obstacle conquered. Now, all she had to do was make sure Tosh would be okay with the plan they were about to implement.

Her quest to enlist Tosh had been waylaid by a meeting with Noble about the progress of the murder case and the digging up of her notes to have a conversation with Teddy about the mushroom trace. Digging up her notes would have taken less time if she had a proper filing system, but old habits died hard. A proper filing system was one that anyone could understand, which made your secrets open to those who would look for them.

She had finally managed to shirk further questioning by Noble on to Jack, saying she had to go run something by forensics. And while it certainly wasn’t a lie in and of itself, the glare Jack sent her as she had ducked out of the office had let her know that payback would be a right bitch.

She walked into the lab and found Gina sitting in Teddy’s desk chair, her feet propped up on his desk as she munched on some crisps. She was watching Teddy, Merlin and Tosh talk through the giant window in Tosh’s office.

“Gina? Why are you here?” Hannah asked once she reached her.

“Oh, me? I’m here for the fireworks.”

“Fireworks?”

“Oh, you don’t know yet. This will be good.”

“What will?”

“Shh! They’ll hear you. Sit,” she said, moving her foot to push an empty chair toward Hannah.

Hannah gave her a puzzled frown, but sat down and rolled the chair to sit beside Gina. If Gina thought there would be fireworks, chances were good that a show was, indeed, in store.

“Why is Merlin here?” Hannah asked her.

“Hmm? Oh, I think Tosh wanted to ask him some questions about the Armagh cases. Crisp?” she replied, holding the bag out to Hannah.

Hannah took a couple and popped them into her mouth, almost choking when the door to the lab opened again. 

The man who came walking through was by far the largest man Hannah had ever seen in real life. He was tall and solidly muscled, and Hannah was impressed by how little sound he made as he moved. She nearly swallowed her tongue as her eyes traced up the gorgeous body to a face that was handsome in an innocently rugged way.

“Guh,” was all she managed to say out loud.

“I know, right?” Gina whispered.

“What? Who? What?”

“Percival Lewys.”

“His biceps are the size of my _head_!”

“Which is one of the 8,000 reasons why he’s the best at what he does.”

“What does he do? Bench press tube trains?”

Gina snorted. “He’s a bodyguard, and a bloody good one at that. He’s even guarded members of the royal family.”

“What’s he doing—oh, Merlin’s going to _kill_ Arthur,” Hannah said as she watched Percival walk over to Tosh’s office.

“Like I said: fireworks,” Gina replied happily, before popping another crisp in her mouth.  
*****

Merlin’s answer to Tosh’s question regarding the forensics in the Armagh files was cut off by her office door opening behind him. He had a quick glimpse of Teddy’s mouth dropping open and Tosh’s eyes going wide before he turned to see who had come in.

He nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw the man standing inside the door, seemingly defying the laws of physics in order to fit into the constraints of his dark suit.

“Can I help you?” Tosh asked.

The man gave her a small smile in return. “My name is Percival Lewys. I’m here for Dr. Emrys.”

“I am going to kill Arthur,” Merlin said as something clicked solidly into place in his mind.

Percival’s smile grew minutely. “I was warned you might say that. However, might I point out that murdering Mr. Penn would result in you going to prison, which would make my task rather difficult?”

“Everything all right in here?” Hannah asked as she joined them.

“We’re just fine, Hannah. Would you mind asking Gina to stop laughing hysterically in the middle of my lab? It might give someone the wrong impression about the level of professionalism here,” Tosh replied.

Hannah nodded. She turned and leaned out the door. “Gina, you are the _worst_ sort of person. Bugger off to your shop.”

Gina flipped her a two-fingered salute, but got up and left, leaving her empty crisp bag on Teddy’s desk.

“I’m not cleaning that up,” Teddy muttered.

“Teddy, why don’t you show me those lab results you were talking about?” Tosh said, taking Teddy by the arm and pulling him to the door of her office. She grabbed Hannah as they passed her. “I believe you had questions about those, as well, Hannah?”

“Yes, but—” Hannah tried to protest as she was dragged out of the office.

Tosh closed the door gently behind them.

“So, what, exactly, did _Mr_. Penn say you were to do once you found me?” Merlin asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Percival straightened to his full height, making Merlin painfully aware that the man had previously been trying not to look imposing in order to set him at ease. He tried not to let that knowledge affect him, lifting his own chin as he awaited an answer.

“I am supposed to stay with you wherever you go and ensure that nothing untoward happens to you,” Percival replied.

Merlin bit the inside of his lip to keep from asking if what Arthur had done to him last night had met the definition of “untoward”.

“For how long?” he asked aloud.

“He didn’t give me a time frame. He did, however, ask that I inspect your office to be sure it was as safe as possible. If you have finished your business with Dr. Sato, we should probably head to your office now.”

Merlin narrowed his eyes. “So you know, when I _do_ kill Arthur, it is going to be slow and ugly.”

“He said you might say that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's been so long but I was writing on this over the weekend and have been on a _Merlin_ kick lately, so I am hopeful the next update will be more timely.


	11. Part XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hannah knows everyone (no, really), there is exposition and snark, but no actual action. Well, except the sex.

**Part XI**  
“Merlin, why is there a mountain following you?” Sarah Jane asked as Merlin entered the lab.

“Arthur,” Merlin said.

“I’ll need a little more than that, I’m afraid.”

“Dr. Jones, my name is Percival Lewys. I am sure you are aware of Dr. Emrys’ stalker?” Percival said, holding his hand out.

Sarah Jane shook it as she replied. “I am aware. We are working very hard to catch this monster and get him out of Merlin’s life.”

“I know. But while all of you are doing that, this man has managed to get uncomfortably close to Merlin on more than one occasion. I’m here to make sure that he doesn’t get any closer.”

Sarah Jane eyed him carefully. “All right. But you have to adhere to our rules in here. I won’t have other cases jeopardized because Arthur Penn is paranoid.”

“It’s not paranoia if someone is really after me.”

Merlin winced as Percival and Sarah Jane turned to look at him, realizing he’d said that out loud. “I’ll just…go do something useful?”

“Go help Atkins with his bodies. He’s making that weird stumped face again,” Sarah Jane said.

“Thanks, Bones,” Merlin said before turning to hurry off.

Percival grabbed him by the back of the shirt. “Where are you going?”

“Um, the locker room? To put on scrubs?” Merlin replied.

“What part of, ‘I stay with you wherever you go’ was unclear?”

“The part where I’ll be stripping to my shorts?”

Percival turned to Sarah Jane. “I take it following him into the locker room doesn’t violate the sanctity of the lab.”

Merlin glowered. “I’ll violate your sanc—”

Sarah Jane coughed. “No, it won’t, Mr. Lewys. Merlin, do behave or I’ll have to recommend you take leave until this is all settled. I can’t imagine you want Mr. Lewys hanging about Hannah’s flat all day?”

“You are all horrible people,” Merlin said, his eyes narrowed.

“Who love you very much and are willing to put up with your disparaging remarks about them,” Sarah Jane said, coolly.

Merlin sighed, knowing defeat when he saw it in Sarah Jane’s cool gaze. “This way, Mr. Lewys.”

“You can call me Percival,” he said, following Merlin.

“I _could_ call you the Prat’s Ploy, but I won’t.”

Percival sighed as they reached the locker room. He went in first, looked around, then allowed Merlin entry. “It’s a good thing to be loved that much, Merlin.”

“I know. But it’s also a pain, sometimes,” he said, opening his locker.  
****

“Well, as dinner theater goes, that wasn’t half bad,” Hannah said, settling on a corner of Teddy’s desk.

“Especially considering it’s nearer to breakfast,” Teddy replied.

“Yeah, but I already had my breakfast theater, courtesy of Arthur and Merlin.”

Teddy put his hands up. “Man, I _don’t_ want to know.”

“Yes, you do. _Just_ a little,” she said, holding her thumb and forefinger so they were almost touching.

“Don’t make start singing the ‘I’m not listening’ song, Han.”

“Fine,” Hannah said, huffing out a breath. “I did actually have a reason for popping in to see you.”

“Oh, you mean it wasn’t just to watch Arthur’s present arrive?”

“I didn’t even know that was happening. That was all Arthur and Gina.” She tilted her head to look at him. “I guess you’ll just have to be satisfied with being Elle’s favorite from now on; Gina clearly has a new one.” She reached out to ruffle Teddy’s hair. He ducked the hand quickly, and she felt a surge of pride; even though he was using them against her, his sparring work with her had greatly improved his reflexes.

“I’m actually relieved. It’s a bit terrifying being everyone’s favorite,” Teddy said.

Hannah snorted.

“Now, you had something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Right. You mentioned something in your report about exotic mushrooms?”

“Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’. “The pleurotus eryngii; also known as the king trumpet mushroom.”

“Poisonous?”

“Completely edible. You know, if you like foods that have the texture of tongue.”

“I happen to _like_ mushrooms,” Hannah said.

Teddy shrugged. “Some people have no taste.”

“Says the man who misses Del Taco above everything else.”

“I also miss real Oreos.”

“I’ll have my mother send us some. Or PG. Either way, you will get no Oreos if you don’t tell me more.”

“That’s about it. They’re exotic, edible and have shown up in traces on both our bodies and the letters.”

“And the Armagh murders?”

Teddy nodded. “Those, too.”

“Great, so if we knew why that was important, then we’d know who the killer was.”

“Unless it’s not really important and he’s just doing it to fuck with us.”

“You have spent too much time around Ianto,” she said, jabbing a finger in his direction. “His pessimism is all over you.”

“Just saying, if it were that easy, we’d solve things as quickly as they do on TV.”

“If it was like it is on TV, Ianto and Jack would be shagging on every available surface, instead of still doing the ‘Should We or Shouldn’t We Do the Dance With No Pants’ dance for the best part of forever.”

“Again, things I don’t need to imagine.”

Hannah put her arm around Teddy’s neck. “Oh, you don’t _need_ to, but you really, really should.”

“Don’t you have crimes to be solving?”

Hannah let him go. “As it happens, I do need to share this information with some interested parties. And to set up some things that might get us into trouble later.”

“You do realize they could still deport my ass, right?”

She hopped to her feet and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. “One, it won’t involve you and, more importantly, two, over my rotting corpse.”

“Rotting corpses are Bones’ area. Go bother her and Merlin.”

“Ooo, and Percival. I think I’ll take Jack with me. He could use the eye candy.”

“Good- _bye_ , Hannah.”

She grinned and left the lab, whistling as she went.  
***

Arthur quickly checked his mobile during the day’s first recess. He had one text from Percival stating he had found Merlin and commenced his duties; one from Gina with a picture of Merlin’s furious face; and several from Merlin with increasingly creative uses of profanity.

“Anything I should know about?” Ianto asked without looking up from his notes on the morning’s examinations.

“Merlin is threatening my life.”

“Do I want to know why?”

“Similar reasons to why Hannah threatened all of us last night.”

“You took something he valued highly?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“He got him a bodyguard. As first presents in a relationship go, not terrible, but I don’t think Merlin quite appreciated it,” Tosh said from behind them.

Ianto turned and smiled. “Good to see you, Tosh. Ready for your testimony?”

“ _I_ have been ready for days; it’s the rest of you that couldn’t get your acts together.”

“Not everyone can run their unit with such ruthless efficiency.”

“If you’d just let me take over the world, they could,” she replied sweetly.

“That is both terrifying and amazing to picture,” Arthur said.

“I like him. We should keep him around,” Tosh said.

“I thought you liked Martha,” Ianto replied, his eyes back on his notes.

“I do like Martha. But she left. I like her slightly less.”

Arthur’s phone chirped.

“How many death threats does that make?” Ianto asked.

“No, this one is Hannah,” Arthur replied as he read the text.

“Oh? And what does she have to say?” Tosh asked.

“I do believe it’s just hysterical laughter.”

“Sounds like Hannah,” Ianto said. “Well, since you have Merlin’s well-being in hand, we should probably get to putting Parkinson behind bars. Dr. Sato,” Ianto said, holding the door to the courtroom open.

Arthur thumbed his phone off and followed them inside.  
****

Gina let herself back into Pantheon and frowned when she heard the unmistakable sound of one of the tattoo guns going. “Elle?” she called out as she pulled a baseball bat out from underneath the counter.

“Back here!”

“Everything all right,” Gina said, moving forward quietly.

“Special request.”

Gina breathed a sigh of relief. Whoever was in with Elle, it was someone they knew.

“For both ink and gossip.”

Gina smiled when she heard the voice. “Hello, Morgana,” she said as she entered one of their tattoo rooms.

Morgana smiled at her from the chair. “Gina. Would you believe your sister forgot she promised to tattoo me today?”

Gina wheeled over a stool and sat where she could look Morgana in the eye and see the work Elle was doing on Morgana’s wrist. “Not even for a moment,” she replied.

“Oh, well.”

“The lily looks nice, though,” Gina said.

“Hurts like a bugger. And your sister has run out of gossip to distract me with. I don’t suppose you might have something?” she asked, a smirk on her face.

“I might even have pictures on my phone.”

“You had better be planning to share those,” Elle said.

“Soon as you’re done,” Gina said. “So, Morgana, how did you find out about Percival?”

Morgana smirked again. “Everyone always forgets about little old me. Percival works with my husband; I was there when Percy took the call. Leon was in a proper snit about having to move assignments around. Luckily, I was there and able to soothe him.”

“After which, she promptly came here for gossip,” Elle said, turning off the gun. She quickly checked her handiwork and began to dress the tattoo. Once done, she stripped off her gloves and gave Morgana a bag with instructions for aftercare and the Atreides sisters’ own blend for keeping the tattoo clean and moisturized.

Morgana took the bag, put it in her obscenely expensive purse, then made “gimme” hands at Gina.

Gina laughed and handed over the phone. “I’m thinking of making that first one my new wallpaper.”

“I’m forwarding all of them to myself,” Morgana said, her fingers flying. “I’ll have to put it in the scrapbook.”

“One day, Arthur is going to find that thing and set it on fire,” Elle said.

“Wouldn’t be the first time he’s burned down something in protest,” Morgana muttered as she handed the phone back to Gina. “Now, tell me everything about Merlin. Leave no juicy detail unspoken.”  
*****

“Merlin, have you seen my partn—hello, tall muscled and muscled,” Jack said as he entered Bones’ lab.

“Last I saw her, she was conspiring with Gina,” Merlin said without looking up from his autopsy.

“Hmmm? Oh, Hannah, right. And you are?” Jack said to the man standing three feet behind Merlin.

“No, Jack,” Merlin said.

“I can’t say hello?”

“No, Jack,” Hannah repeated as she joined them. “Mr. Lewys,” she said, nodding at him.

“Why do you know the hot guy? How do you know him when I don’t?”

“Jack, the sooner you accept that Hannah knows everyone, the easier your life will be,” Sarah Jane said as she came over to them. “What do you think, Merlin?”

“I think he died of acute cocaine poisoning, but I’ll need the tox screen to be sure,” Merlin replied.

Sarah Jane looked at his notes. “I’d agree. Well, is that the last of them?”

“The last of Atkins’. Are you sure he’s all right? He’s been a bit off the last few days.”

“His wife was stalked a few years ago. He’s having issues.”

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

“You could just take the rest of the day off,” Sarah Jane said.

“And do what, exactly?”

“You could play video games with Percival. Or you could spar with Percival. Or perhaps play strip poker with Percival,” Hannah said.

“Hannah!” Merlin and Sarah Jane shouted.

“Strip backgammon?” she offered.

“And how is your father these days, Lady Fogg?” Percival said, his expression bland.

Hannah waved a finger at him. “Ah-ah, Percy. My mother is still alive, which means _she_ has the title. Nice try, though. You always have been a good sport.”

“I could go to Pantheon and get another piercing. Maybe a giant tattoo?” Merlin snapped, arms folded over his chest.

“Not a good idea, Merlin. Gina is having a really bad day with the morning sickness. That place is a mess,” Hannah said.

“She seemed just bloody fine earlier,” Merlin said.

“That was before she stole crisps out of Teddy’s desk. Apparently, the sprog objected.”

“Fine. I’ll go home,” Merlin said, defeated.

Hannah slung an arm around his neck. “Look at it this way, Merlin. Montgomery won’t want to start his case today, so Arthur will probably done and able to come relieve Percival in a few hours. In the meantime, Percival works with Arthur’s brother-in-law. He’s got to have some dirt on him.”

Jack opened his mouth to speak.

“ _Everyone_ , Jack. She knows everyone,” Sarah Jane said.

Jack just laughed.

“I’ll get my things,” Merlin said, heading for the locker room. He didn’t even pause as he heard Percival fall into step behind him.

Sarah Jane waited until the doors had closed behind the pair before rounding on Jack and Hannah. “Now that Merlin’s out of the way, what exactly are you two planning?”

“Nothing,” they said in unison.

“I have a fourteen-year-old, genius son. Try again.”

“Let’s go in your office, Sarah Jane. The walls have ears,” Jack said.

“And if they don’t; they will soon,” Hannah muttered as she followed them.  
****

“Tell me, Ianto, does anyone ever bet against you?” Arthur asked as they left the courtroom.

“Not if they’ve actually met him,” Tosh said, walking with them.

Ianto smirked. “It’s not luck; it’s just observing the court’s habits. You’ll catch on.”

“Still, you called us getting out early today.”

“I did,” Ianto said, pausing and lifting an eyebrow.

“What?” Arthur asked.

“You didn’t go and make plans for the afternoon, did you?” Ianto asked.

“Nooo. I presumed we’d be working until late.”

Tosh chuckled. “I really think we should keep him.”

“We shall see.” Ianto flicked his cuff back with a twist of his wrist to look at his watch. “All right, Arthur. I’ll see what I can do about letting you out for dinner.”

“And _dessert_ ,” Tosh said with a wicked grin. She turned her phone back on. “Teddy texted. He said the DNA results are in. I’d better head back to the lab.”

Arthur watched her walk away. “They do all realize how weird it is that they’re so invested in my sex life, right?”

“Better yours than mine,” Ianto said, shrugging. “Shall we?” he asked, walking away.

“That’s not comforting!” Arthur called at his retreating back.  
****

“Aw, DNA, no,” Teddy said as he read the report.

“Whatcha got there?”

“Jesus!” Teddy shouted, jumping and turning around.

“Doesn’t look like Jesus,” Hannah replied, taking the report out of his hands.

“I thought you and Jack were going to go see Merlin and Bones.”

“Been there, done that, stole some of Sarah Jane’s gloves,” Jack said as he read over Hannah’s shoulder.

Teddy looked at his watch. “Where the hell did my morning go?”

“Tell me you have something more than this,” Hannah said. “Because the DNA isn’t in the system, which means it’s useless until and unless we get a suspect.”

“Like the mushrooms,” Teddy said. “I’m tracking them, but they aren’t closely regulated, and he could have picked them up at an organic grocer.”

“Well that’s just ducky,” Hannah said.

“Sorry, Han.”

“No worries, Elf,” Jack said, “just keep us posted on any updates.”

“You do realize I have other cases to work on?”

“You do realize I can get into your flat in under 30 seconds,” Hannah said.

“Yes. You have a key,” Teddy replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

Hannah huffed. “Fine. You coming over later?”

“Yep. I’ll bring anything that pops up as well as the DNA report. Maybe Tosh will see something I haven’t. “

“And maybe the mushrooms will trip something in Merlin’s memory,” Jack said.

“And maybe I’ll sprout bloody wings and fly,” Hannah grumbled.

Teddy stood up straight. “That being said, I have work to do and Tosh should be back any time. Unless you want to talk to her?”

“Not here. Tell her to come to mine tonight. There’s something she should know,” Hannah said.

Teddy nodded and turned his back on them, getting back to work.

“You’ll tell Sarah Jane in her lab but not Tosh in hers?” Jack asked Hannah quietly as they left.

“I had to give Sarah Jane final veto. Tosh will be on my side with this.”

“And if she’s not?”

“I’ll throw Percival in her way. She has a thing for brawn.”

“Really?” Jack asked, holding the door for her.

“Yes. And even if she didn’t, you saw Percival. Would you kick that out of bed for eating crackers?”

“I would probably break my foot if I tried.”

“Might be worth it,” Hannah said.  
*****

“Percival!”

Percival grabbed Merlin’s arm and shoved him behind him.

“People _really_ need to. Stop. Doing. That,” Merlin said.

“Don’t take offense, Dr. Emrys. It is what he’s paid to do.”

Merlin peered around Percival’s arm—which he noted was not as tense as it had been a second ago—to see a stunning woman standing just inside the doors.

“Lady LeFey,” Percival said.

She gave him a dazzling smile. “You share an office floor with my husband. You’re allowed to call me Morgana when you’re working.”

“No, I’m not. It’s in my contract.”

“It is not. I know because I wrote your contract.”

“Er, excuse me?” Merlin asked.

“So sorry, Dr. Emrys. My name is Morgana LeFey. I’m Arthur’s sister,” she said, holding out her hand.

Merlin stepped out from behind Percival to shake it. “I’m not allowed to talk to you.”

She smirked. “Then you should _certainly_ invite me up for tea.”

He held out his arm to her and she linked their elbows together as they walked to the elevator.

“Come along, Percy,” she called back.

Percival sighed. “Arthur’s going to kill me.”  
****

“I still don’t see why you’re wearing all black. Don’t you think it’s going to look suspicious?” Jack asked Elle as they took the lift up to Hannah’s floor.

“Aaron didn’t bat an eye,” Elle replied.

“ _Aaron_ has been the doorman to Hannah Summers-Fogg for ten years. He knows better than to blink.”

“Ooh, do you think _he_ knows who Hannah’s been shagging?”

“Probably. But I don’t think you’d be able to get it out of him.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” Elle complained.

“I just think he’s less scared of you than he is of Hannah.”

“As theories go, that’s not terrible.”

Jack shook his head. “Come on, the sooner we get Hannah and you on your way, the sooner this insanity is all over.”

“Just where have you been this evening? I know for a fact Hannah headed home two hours ago,” Elle asked as the elevator doors opened.

“Would you believe I went to Ianto’s and we had wild, hot, toe-curling sex?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?” Jack asked, pausing in the middle of the hallway.

“Because I saw Ianto an hour ago. And if the two of you had been having mind-blowing sex, at least one of you would be walking funny.”

Jack stared open-mouthed at her back as she continued to Hannah’s door.

Elle turned to him and smirked. “Don’t ask the question if you can’t play the game,” she said before knocking on the door.

Percival opened it.

“Percival Lewys, as I live and breathe. How are you?” Elle asked.

Jack goggled. “Wait, you also know the large, hot guy?”

“Yes, Jack, I know Percival,” she replied, cocking an eyebrow at him. She turned her attention back to Percival. “When are you coming in to get the rest of that sleeve done?”

“Hopefully, as soon as this assignment is over,” he said, stepping back to let her and Jack inside.

“You do realize this is one of the safest flats in town? You could probably be off duty,” Elle said as Percival locked the door behind them.

“I thought it best I stay until Arthur got here, under the circumstances.”

“What circumstances—oh shit,” Jack said as he caught sight of the group in the living room. Morgana and Hannah were sitting on the sofa, two empty bottles of wine on the coffee table and wineglasses in hand. Merlin sat across from them on the loveseat.

“Gina is going to be so pissed she missed this,” Elle said. She walked over and flopped down on an armchair. “Where are we?”

“Morgana, Hannah and Tosh are plotting world domination,” Teddy said, handing a bottle of water to Jack on his way out of the kitchen, another in his hand for himself.

“Where is Tosh?” Elle asked.

“I lost rock paper scissors lizard Spock and had to get the next bottle of wine,” Tosh replied, following Teddy. She took back her seat on the sofa as Teddy settled into one of the other armchairs.

Hannah smiled at Jack as Tosh cast a quick glance at Percival, blushed, then concentrated on pouring the wine.

Jack shook his head at Hannah. She pouted at him, the expression clearly indicating she did not believe he was any fun.

“I’m surprised Arthur isn’t here. I saw him an hour ago as he and Ianto were finishing up for the day,” Elle said.

“I asked him to pick up dinner. I thought it was best to not let them near anything sharp or capable of creating fire,” Merlin explained, waving at the three women on the couch.

Hannah yelped and jumped to her feet. She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Ah, Aaron texted to let me know Arthur’s here. He’ll probably need someone to get the door. Morgana, would you like to do the honors?”

“Yes, please!”

“No. I’m hungry. Let Percival get it so he can grab the food when Arthur realizes what’s happened,” Merlin protested.

“What has happened?” Jack asked him, sitting on the arm of the loveseat.

“Oh, the apocalypse. He said Hannah and Morgana should never meet and I didn’t realize he was serious.”

“Arthur’s always serious. It’s part of his problem,” Morgana said, gesturing with her glass of wine.

There was a knock at the door.

Morgana let out what could only be described as a wicked chuckle while Merlin sat back with barely concealed relief. Hannah narrowed her eyes at him. “What did you do?”

He smiled serenely at her as Percival opened the door.

“Come on in, Arthur, the water’s fine!” Morgana called.

“Good thing I brought my swim buddy, then,” Arthur said as he entered the living room.

Followed closely by Leon Knighton, Morgana’s husband. “Hello, darling,” he said.

Morgana turned a hurt look on Merlin as Arthur sat beside him. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are. But he gives me orgasms,” Merlin replied, pointing at Arthur.

“ _Mer_ lin!”

Hannah cackled. “Touché, Merlin. Nicely played. Texted him, did you?”

Merlin nodded.

“Come on, my love. We have reservations for dinner with your father,” Leon said, helping his wife off the sofa.

“I’m not through with you, Emrys,” Morgana said. Her words were softened by the fact that she walked around to kiss him on the cheek. She took a moment to ruffle Arthur’s hair before following her husband out of the flat.

“I’ll be off, then, too,” Percival said, coming out of the kitchen. “I put everything on the island, if that’s all right.”

“You’re welcome to stay for dinner,” Hannah offered.

Percival smiled. “I think I’ll be off home, just the same. I’ll need to be sharp for tomorrow.”

Arthur got up. “I’ll walk you out.”

Percival nodded.

“I’ll call you if I need you, Percival, but I should have Merlin covered for the weekend.”

“Of course.”

“Thank you again,” Arthur said before shutting and locking the door behind him.

Percival joined Leon and Morgana at the lift.

“Just so we’re clear: you’re keeping an eye on them tonight and tomorrow,” Morgana said.

“Of course,” Percival replied.

“Good man.”  
****

“Arthur, your sister is a delight, but she’s cost us some precious time,” Hannah said as Arthur rejoined them.

“You could have kicked her out,” Arthur suggested.

“That would have made her suspicious. We don’t have time for a suspicious Morgana LeFey.”

“I thought you just met her,” Jack said, confused.

“I did. But I recognize a kindred spirit. Elle, are you ready?”

“Whenever you and Jack are. Gear’s in the boot of my car and Gina is awaiting our call,” Elle replied.

“Are _you_ ready? You’ve been drinking with Morgana and Tosh,” Jack asked.

“She only had a glass. And she kept disappearing into the kitchen to hydrate,” Teddy explained.

“Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on?” Tosh said.

“I second that,” Merlin said.

“I reached out to an old friend of mine who wasn’t able to find out anything about anyone working at the lab. And we need to know how this guy is getting into the lab to leave you notes. So, with Bones’ knowledge,’ we’re going to do a bit of light espionage tonight,” Hannah explained.

“What kind of espionage?” Tosh asked.

“Electronic,” Hannah hedged.

“Oh, for pity’s sake!” Elle said, throwing her hands up. “Tosh, we’re going to plant cameras in the labs to see if we can catch this guy.”

“I thought Tosh said the DNA findings had come back,” Arthur said. “Weren’t they any help?”

“Oh, they’re _loads_ of help, so long as we catch the guy,” Hannah replied.

“He’s not in the system, then,” Merlin said.

“That would be a big, fat no,” Teddy replied.

“So…because we’ve struck out on forensics, we’re stooping to illegal surveillance?” Tosh asked, staring Jack down.

“Hannah made a _really_ rousing speech about the greater good,” Jack replied.

Elle nodded.

“I’m going home. I don’t want to know any more about this than I already do. Teddy, you’re driving me,” Tosh said. She went to get her purse and coat without another word to the rest of them.

“If it helps, it’s not just you she’s frustrated with. It was a bad day for forensic findings,” Teddy said. He clapped Merlin on the shoulder before following his boss out.

“What else happened in their lab?” Merlin asked.

Hannah huffed, the motion causing her fringe to sway. “The traces of exotic mushrooms Teddy found aren’t as exotic as we had hoped. He’s got feelers out for leads, but…”

“But it won’t help until after we’ve already caught him,” Arthur finished.

“Yes.”

“Perfect. Bloody perfect. I’m getting dinner,” Merlin said, pushing himself off the loveseat and storming out of the room.

“Merlin,” Hannah called after him.

“I’ve got this. The three of you have somewhere to be, don’t you?” Arthur asked.

“Come lock up behind us first,” Hannah said, standing.

“If I do them all, you can’t get back in.”

“I’ll crash at Elle and Gina’s. You keep him safe,” she replied.

Jack and Elle followed Hannah to the door.

“Good luck,” Arthur said before closing the door behind them. He wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn he heard the theme from _Mission: Impossible_ come through the door as he engaged the locks.

Merlin was staring at the food like it had personally offended him when Arthur found him.

“Talk to me,” Arthur said, sliding his arms around Merlin’s waist.

“I want my damn life back,” Merlin said, shrugging out of his arms. He began to pace.

“I know. We’re working on that.”

“We’ve been working on it! And nothing is working! He’s left two bodies and it’s probably only a matter of hours until he drops the third!”

“It’s frustrating, I know. But we are doing the best we can.”

Merlin stopped and glared at him. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Use the ‘consoling the frustrated victim’ voice. I know it takes time. I know that we can’t just snap our fingers and get the information we need. I don’t need you treating me like a damn naïve victim.”

“Okay. Then what do you need?”

“What? What do I? I need this psycho to be caught! I need to know that no one else is going to die because of me!”

Arthur stepped closer to him. “I know. But what do you need that I can give you? Right here, right now.”

Merlin let out a strangled moan and wrapped his hands around Arthur’s neck, pulling him into a hard, brutal kiss. Arthur emitted a grunt of pain before grabbing Merlin’s hips tightly and returning the kiss with equal ferocity. Merlin growled at him, one hand moving into Arthur’s hair to pull his head sharply back, breaking the kiss.

“Merlin?” Arthur asked.

“Shut up,” Merlin said, lowly, before sinking his teeth into the pulse point on Arthur’s neck.

Arthur gasped and flung a hand back to brace himself against the wall as Merlin shoved him backward. “Merlin,” he whispered.

“No more words,” Merlin said before taking Arthur’s mouth in a kiss.

They were of a height, but Arthur had spent years working out his frustrations on the pitch and in gyms. He tightened his hands on Merlin’s hips and lifted, sliding one hand under Merlin’s arse to encourage the other man to wrap his legs around his waist.

Merlin grunted into the kiss, but managed to get his legs around Arthur’s waist without sending them to the ground. He did, however, force them back against the wall hard. Merlin hissed at the pain, but kept mapping the inside of Arthur’s mouth with his tongue.

Arthur wrenched his head back, pulling his mouth from Merlin’s with regret. “Merlin, Merlin. We don’t have…”

“Don’t care,” Merlin said, sliding a hand down to pull at Arthur’s belt.

Arthur buried his hand in Merlin’s dark locks and tilted his head back. “I do.”

Merlin whimpered, his hands going lax as he met Arthur’s lips in a slow, tender kiss. He broke for air, then smiled at Arthur. “All right. Bed.”

“Bed,” Arthur agreed, then kissed him again.

They slowly made their way to Merlin’s room, with several uncomfortable bumps against walls, doorways, and a table Hannah kept in the hall for no discernable reason.

Arthur set Merlin down just inside his bedroom. “You’d better make sure it’s completely closed this time,” he said as he headed to the bed.

Merlin barked out a laugh before closing the door. When he turned around, Arthur was staring at him, a condom packet and lube in his hand.

“Merlin?”

Merlin read the hunger in Arthur’s eyes and smiled. He began stripping off his clothes with almost inhuman haste. “ _Yes_ ,” Merlin said, once he was half naked.

“Merlin,” Arthur breathed, the word sounding like it had been torn from his chest. He set the condom and lube on the bed as he stripped out of his own clothes. “Are you done?” he asked, nodding at Merlin’s half-clad form.

Merlin leaned back against the wall. “Well, you’ll have to do some work for it. It was, after all, your idea to give me something I needed."

Arthur snatched up the condom and lube and advanced on Merlin. He slapped the items into Merlin’s hand. “Hold on,” he growled before tilting down to take Merlin’s nipple ring between his teeth.

“Gah! Arthur! Please!”

Arthur ignored his pleas, alternating between biting gently at Merlin’s nipple and flicking the ring with his tongue. He took quiet pride in the fact that it took him little time to reduce Merlin to nonsensical syllables. Merlin buried one of his hands in Arthur’s hair, trying to direct him. Arthur breathed a laugh against Merlin’s skin, moving down the other man’s torso instead of up to his mouth. 

Arthur sank slowly to his knees, his mouth trailing hot, biting kisses down Merlin’s chest and abdomen. He delved his tongue into Merlin’s navel, making the other man huff out a laugh. Arthur slid his hands to the button on Merlin’s jeans. He slowly unfastened them, lifting his head to meet Merlin’s gaze as he slowly lowered the zip.

“You are a terrible person,” Merlin said, his expression fond.

Arthur scratched his nails lightly over the skin of Merlin’s hips as he lowered Merlin’s trousers and pants to the ground. Merlin hissed in pleasure, his head thunking back against the wall. 

Arthur chuckled, nuzzling the hair at the base of Merlin’s cock. He then pulled completely away, only his fingertips touching Merlin.

“What?” Merlin whispered, opening his eyes and looking down.

Arthur smirked at him before leaning forward, taking Merlin’s cock down to the root.

“Holy…gods!” Merlin choked out.

Arthur hummed and began slowly bobbing his head down Merlin’s length, applying just a hint of teeth every few strokes.

“Nguh! Terrible, awful person,” Merlin panted.

Arthur pulled off with an obscene pop.

“But gods, I love you,” Merlin whispered, then held his breath.

Arthur rose to his feet, pressing his body tightly against Merlin’s. “Good.”

Merlin laughed, his eyes going sharp. “Good? Is that it?”

Arthur shrugged. “I suppose an argument could be made for great.”

“You know, I could just have a wank on my own.”

Arthur slid his hand down Merlin’s back, resting his fingers just above the cleft of Merlin’s arse. “Really? And you think that would be enough?” he asked, brushing his forefinger against Merlin’s hole.

Merlin bit down hard on Arthur’s shoulder.

“Is that a no?” Arthur asked, taking the lube from Merlin’s nearly lax hand.

Merlin snarled and put his hand in Arthur’s hair, tugging harshly at the golden strands. “I live with a former assassin. I know of at least eight different ways to kill you if you stop now.”

Arthur smiled. “You’d best turn around, then.”

Merlin let out a whimper and did as he was told, pressing his empty hand against the wall to brace himself.

Arthur almost got distracted from his goal when faced with the pale expanse of Merlin’s back. He opened the lube and slicked up his fingers, pressing the tip of one against Merlin’s hole. “Some day,” he whispered against Merlin’s ear, “some day, I am going to splay you out on your stomach on my bed and spend hours mapping the flesh of your back.”

Merlin gasped. “Yes,” he breathed, arching back against Arthur as a finger slowly slid into him.

“I am going to kiss and lick every inch of you, until you are flushed with desire. I’ll know it’s a color only I get to see,” he whispered, slowly working his finger in and out of Merlin’s body.

“Arthur, please!” Merlin said, trying very hard to not actually just wail his lover’s name.

Arthur pressed a gentle kiss between Merlin’s shoulder blades as he slid a second finger into him.

Merlin groaned and pushed back against Arthur’s hand. “Enough!” he ground out between clenched teeth.

Arthur wanted to ask if he was sure. He wanted to ask if he had changed his mind and wanted something slow and sweet. But he had seen the hunger in Merlin’s eyes, had heard the desperation in his voice. He knew what Merlin really wanted. 

“Okay,” he whispered.

Merlin’s shoulders relaxed, but tensed up as Arthur turned him around. “What?”

Arthur plucked the condom out of Merlin’s hand and tore it open. “Don’t want you to mash that gorgeous face against the wall when I start pounding into you.”

“Oh, you—!”

“Yes?” Arthur asked, lazily rolling on the condom and slicking his cock with the remainder of the lube.

“You had bloody well better make good on those promises,” Merlin said, pulling him in for a kiss. 

Arthur bit at Merlin’s lips, muffling the other man’s groan as he lifted Merlin in his arms.

Merlin smiled against Arthur’s mouth as he wrapped his legs around the other man’s waist. He bit Arthur’s full lower lip as he slid closer, pressing their cocks together.

“Evil,” Arthur whispered.

Merlin laughed as he pulled himself up in Arthur’s arms, angling his body to make Arthur’s entrance easier. Arthur wrapped one arm around Merlin’s waist and hooked his free hand over Merlin’s shoulder to help guide him down onto his cock.

Merlin’s hands slipped from Arthur’s shoulders as he groaned in pleasure. “Yes. Yes, Arthur!” he panted, digging his nails into the skin of Arthur’s back.

Arthur grunted at the pain, then slowly pulled almost completely out of Merlin before slamming back in.

“Yes!” Merlin hissed as his back slammed against the wall. “More.”

Arthur took him at his word and started pounding into Merlin. Merlin’s grunts as he was pressed back into the wall provided a mesmerizing counterpoint to Arthur’s pants. He pressed his face against Merlin’s throat, lulled by the rhythmic sound of skin against skin.

“Arthur, so close,” Merlin panted. “Please.”

Arthur lifted his head and met Merlin’s eyes. He tilted his head up to meet Merlin’s mouth in a kiss that was more teeth and tongue than a press of lips. He listened carefully to Merlin’s breathing and, just when it had hit fever pitch, he took Merlin’s nipple ring between two fingers and _twisted._

Merlin threw his head back and shouted, and Arthur could have sworn the ground moved beneath his feet. Arthur continued thrusting into him, the contractions of Merlin’s body pulling him closer and closer to the edge. Merlin, still gasping as his body shook, pressed his lips against Arthur’s ear. 

“I love you,” he whispered.

Arthur cried out as his orgasm took him and the world went white.  
****

“I know I’m going to regret bringing this up, but you seem ridiculously comfortable in air shafts,” Elle whispered to Hannah.

They were moving quickly but quietly through the air shafts leading to Bones’ and Merlin’s offices. They had left a protesting Jack in the lobby, claiming he would be a better lookout and distraction for anyone working the night shift.

Hannah chuckled. “My ex-husband’s husband is a big fan of air shafts. We once spent a day just exploring the shafts in an office building.”

“Why?”

“It was a government building and we were testing their defenses.” She turned her head and smiled. “And it was a good way to terrorize some of the junior agents.”

“You have led a truly interesting life.”

Hannah snorted. “That’s one way of looking at it.”

“I suppose. Jack mentioned earlier that you know everyone.”

“Mentioned or complained?”

“Little of both.”

“Sounds like him.” 

“If you know everyone, how come you didn’t know Morgana before tonight?”

Hannah smirked. “Oh, I knew Morgana. She just wouldn’t remember meeting me.”

“That happen to you a lot?”

“There are times when I choose not to be memorable. I met Morgana before she was Mrs. Knighton. And back then, I liked to be unnoticed.”

They crawled a little further in silence, stopping every so often to adjust the gear strapped to them.

“Soo…your ex-husband’s husband?” Elle asked.

“They’re very happy together. I danced at their wedding. Badly, but no one’s perfect.”

“We should form a club: women whose ex-husbands turned out gay.”

Hannah shrugged as well as she could. “Well, Phil’s always been attracted more to the person than the gender. And you knew Ianto was bi when you married him.”

“So no club?”

“Oh, we can start a club. But we need to find something more inclusive. Can’t just be you and me hanging out all the time. You’d learn too many of my secrets.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “Ah, we’re here. Do you remember what to do?”

“You do remember that I used to be a spy, yes?”

“Yes, but you keep reminding us that it was a lifetime ago. You could be forgiven for being rusty,” Elle said, quietly opening the grate and dropping silently onto the floor.

“Show off,” Hannah muttered.  
****

Arthur opened his eyes and was confused when he saw the ceiling of Merlin’s room. He felt cool sheets beneath him. “How did we get to the bed?”

Merlin, who was sprawled almost boneless across his chest, smiled. “Magic.”

Arthur was too tired to argue, so instead he ran his fingers over the lean line of Merlin’s shoulder. “It’s a good thing Hannah wasn’t home.”

“Hmmm?”

“Hannah, your roommate.”

Merlin turned his head so his chin was resting on Arthur’s chest as he looked up at him. “I know who Hannah is. Why are you talking about her when we’re naked in bed together?”

Arthur traced a finger across Merlin’s cheekbone. “I was thinking it’s a good thing she isn’t home. I don’t think even soundproofing would have muffled that.”

“It was rather good.”

“Really? Still just good?”

Merlin beamed at him. “I think there should always be the motivation for improvement.”

Arthur laughed and pulled Merlin up so he could kiss him. Merlin went willingly, the kiss no less passionate for its gentleness. Arthur broke the kiss and stared into Merlin’s eyes. “I love you.”

Merlin smiled. “Good.”

Arthur laughed, then kissed him again. “Get some sleep. We can have a lazy lie-in tomorrow morning.”

“And morning sex?” Merlin asked, settling back down into the curve of Arthur’s body.

“And morning sex,” Arthur agreed, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how, when you're writing something, you know how you want it to end but are not exactly sure how all the pieces get there? Yeah, that was plaguing me for a while and then I had a bolt of inspiration, wrote two paragraphs, of which most of the sentences started with "And then", and managed to figure out who goes where when. I think there's three chapters left to get it there, but maybe only two. We'll see how it goes, but it is hard to keep Hannah from snarking and to keep Merlin and Arthur from sexing....
> 
> The short of it is, it won't be forever and a year between the next update(s).


	12. Part XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elle and Hannah plan; Hannah "knows a guy"; and there is, against all odds, morning sex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been forever, and I apologize. But real life kind of happened all over the damn place. I therefore gift you with a new character to the MWO and some hot sex.

**Part XII**

“Is it Mordred?” Elle asked.

Hannah made a confused noise as she flipped between camera feeds. “Why would Mordred Gray be stalking Merlin?”

Elle huffed. “ _Not_ stalking Merlin.”

Hannah glanced up from the monitors briefly. “Then is Gray what?”

Elle rolled her eyes. “You are aware that there is a substantial betting pool going as to the identity of your mystery lover?”

“Oh, that. I am; I even know that if he is revealed and no one has correctly guessed, I stand to win that money.”

“Who? Damn it, Teddy!” Elle said, answering her own question.

Hannah cackled. “I am also aware, as I thought you were, that Gray is asexual.”

“Huh. That, I did not know. So that time he was at yours in sweats and a tee that _might_ have fit him when he was a teenager?”

“Sparring. Of a sort.”

“And the evening I ran into the two of you at Malobo, with the waistcoat of his tux, shirt collar and tie all undone?”

“A pair of friends having a drink after a night at the ballet.”

“Damn it. There goes my 50 quid.”

“It was a good guess,” Hannah allowed.

“That makes me feel not at all better.”

Hannah smirked and went back to her surveillance. “Why is it that you’re so interested in my sex life when everyone else is talking about Merlin’s?”

Elle stretched and leaned back in her chair. “Because I already know where he’s getting it. But you…you’re a puzzle.”

“I thought we agreed no profiling of our friends.”

“Just a general observation.”

Hannah made a frustrated noise ten minutes later, jabbing the button on the mouse painfully.

“It’s not a time machine, you know. We only put them in tonight, well, last night now. They won’t show you what happened days ago,” Elle said.

“If he holds true to form, he’ll be ready to drop another letter any day now and I’d rather stop him before that happens. I _certainly_ want to find him before he gets his hands on Merlin,” Hannah fairly growled.

“I understand. _Still_ not a time machine.”

Hannah flipped her off. “Damn it!” she said, reaching for her phone.

“What are you doing?”

“It may have escaped your notice, but I’m terrible at waiting.”

Elle smirked. “Did not escape and does not answer my question.”

“We got nothing from our databases on the DNA sample. This surveillance may yield us a lead—”

“But it’s spectacularly illegal and will not hold up in court,” Elle finished.

“Correct. And I could ask Noble to ask Interpol to run the DNA, but that will take time, and we have established that I am no good at waiting,” she said, scrolling through her phone.

“So who are you calling, then?”

Hannah thumbed a contact and held the phone to her ear. “I know a guy,” she said, grinning.

Elle wheeled her chair over so she could hear both sides of the conversation. “Is there a reason you haven’t called this guy before now?”

“Stubbornness. And I was kind of hoping we’d be able to crack this without a deus ex ex-sister-in-law.”

“A what?” 

Hannah held up a finger as the line was picked up.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” the woman on the other end of the call asked.

“Does answering that question correctly increase or decrease the likelihood of you helping me?” Hannah replied.

Emily Prentiss sighed. “You are _very_ lucky I am monitoring something in Japan and actually awake. What do you want?”

“I need your help.”

“I gathered.”

“It’s actually kind of a big thing, so I’d like to trade some information instead of actually asking for a favor.”

“I’m listening,” Emily replied.

“I’m going to send you a DNA sample and I need you to run it through Interpol for me. In exchange, I’ll tell you the date Natasha and your mother will be in town. We’re having drinks.”

Elle shot Hannah a confused look; the blonde woman waved her off.

Emily inhaled sharply. “Does Phil know?”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Do you think they’d still be coming if Phil knew that his mother, his de facto sister-in-law and his ex-wife were meeting for drinks?”

Emily was silent as Elle choked on her drink.

“Em?” Hannah prompted.

“Sorry, just picturing that muscle in my brother’s jaw twitching. All right, on one condition.”

“Name it.”

“Word has it you are friends with Elle Atreides.”

“I am,” Hannah replied slowly.

“I’ve been wanting to pick her brain for years, profiler to profiler. Bring her along when Mom and Natasha are in town.”

“Done.”

“And done. Send me the sample and we’ll run it.”

Hannah nodded at Elle, whose fingers flew over her keyboard. After a few seconds, she nodded at Hannah.

“I just had the request entered in the system. It’ll be on its way shortly,” Hannah said.

“All right. I have to go; be sure you text me the details for drinks.”

“Will do. Thanks, Emily.”

“First round’s on you,” Emily replied, then hung up.

Hannah thumbed her phone off and looked at Elle. “And now, I need another favor.”

Elle made a show of cracking her knuckles. “What else do you need me to hack?”

“Your own brain.”

“Come again?”

“You have one of the greatest profiling minds on the planet. I know this because I wheedled it out of Ianto and then read your files myself. And because I just had to promise an introduction to you in order for Emily to run the DNA. I need a profile and I can’t wait for you to get past your issues any longer. And Em isn’t allowed to profile for me any more.”

“Why not?”

“Condition of my divorce. It’s a long story,” she said, waving a hand.

“It’s a slippery slope for me. A dark, slippery slope.”

Hannah took Elle’s hands in her own. “I know. And I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important. I have used every trick I know. I have exhausted all my resources. Except you. I need you to do this, Elle. For Merlin.”

Elle sighed. “All right. But I can’t bring all of that in here,” she said, her gaze flicking back toward the living area of the building.

Hannah checked her watch. “How about we get some breakfast and then make Merlin and Arthur let us into my flat? Arthur can take Merlin to an art museum or something for the morning while we work.”

“We?”

Hannah squeezed Elle’s hands. “Not gonna let you go down that slope by yourself. I don’t let friends out in the dark alone.”

Elle laughed sharply. “Let me get some things together and leave a note for Gina.”

“I’ll be here glaring the cameras into submission.”  
****

Something was chiming. Something was chiming repeatedly and it was seriously damaging the sleepy bliss he was wrapped up in.

“Fnargl.”

Arthur chuckled at the noise Merlin made against his chest, the sound serving to pull him fully from his quasi-sleep state. “I think it’s my phone.”

“No,” Merlin growled, shifting to sprawl completely across Arthur, pinning him to the bed. “I was promised morning sex.”

Arthur lifted Merlin’s head, then took his mouth in a searing kiss. “There will still be morning sex,” he said, his voice husky with promise.

“Not if that’s work,” Merlin said, nuzzling into Arthur’s neck.

“It’s not work,” Arthur replied, shifting carefully to grab his mobile.

“How do you know?” 

“Wrong ringtone. It’s Hannah.”

Merlin groaned and flopped on his back. “That’s _worse_. That guarantees no morning sex,” the grumbled, slipping out of the bed and pulling on his boxers.

“Where are you going?” Arthur asked, stifling his laughter at Merlin’s epic bedhead.

“Heading this off at the pass.” He paused in the doorway, turned and fixed Arthur with a deadly glare. “You had better still be in that bed and naked when I get back in here.”

Arthur nodded, then burst out laughing as Merlin’s, “I fucking had _plans_ ,” echoed back up the hallway.  
****

“Aren’t you going to knock?” Elle asked as Hannah pocketed her phone.

“Don’t need to. I’ve texted Arthur four times. One of them should be at the door short—”

She was cut off as her front door opened to reveal Merlin wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and a stormy expression.

“We brought scones?” Hannah offered.

“I was promised morning sex,” he growled.

“I think that if you purchase that and have it delivered to your home, it’s called prostitution. So I brought scones,” she replied.

“From Arthur.”

“No, from the bakery you like down the way.”

Merlin made a sound that was more animal than human.

“Oookay,” Elle said, pushing Hannah away from the door and easing Merlin into the flat. “How about Hannah and I set up in the living room, eat in relative peace and you shut yourself up in that lovely soundproof room of yours and pretend we’re not here?”

“Or you could remember we are here and have the added perk of wondering if you’ll be loud enough for us to notice,” Hannah offered as she locked the door.

“Stop helping and go get the boards,” Elle said to Hannah, pushing Merlin toward his room.

“Boards?” he asked.

“Don’t worry. Go have morning sex,” she said.

“What?” he asked as he paused on the threshold of his room.

“Morning. Sex. With the blond in your bed!” Elle said, pushing him into the room.

Merlin looked dazed as he closed the door behind him.

Hannah crossed her arms over her chest as Elle met her at the end of the hall. “We have very odd relationships with the men in our lives.”  
****

Merlin leaned back against the door. He wanted to be frustrated and to bitch about his roommate, but then he got a good look at Arthur.

Arthur, who was sprawled in the bed, his arms behind his head and the sheet covering only part of his left hip and his lap. He lifted one golden eyebrow in invitation.

“Where were we?” Arthur asked.

“We were about to have incredible morning sex,” Merlin said, stepping out of his boxers and climbing onto the foot of the bed. “Which I sincerely, with all my cold, little heart, hope will lead into late morning sex, which will turn into incredible afternoon sex.”

He tugged the sheet away from Arthur and grinned at him. “Which I hope will then leave us too exhausted for early evening sex. But I hope to rally for the middle of the night.”

Arthur laughed as he pulled Merlin against his body and pressed a kiss to his smiling mouth. Merlin sighed into the kiss, one hand moving to cup the back of Arthur’s neck as the other reached for Arthur’s thigh, shifting his leg. Arthur bit down on Merlin’s upper lip as Merlin’s hips settled between his thighs.

Merlin slid his tongue across the seam of Arthur’s lips, asking entrance. Arthur parted his lips and slid his hand down to cup Merlin’s arse. Merlin shifted and Arthur grunted as he got an elbow to his spleen.

“Merlin, what?” Arthur asked as he broke the kiss.

“I can’t find the buggering lube!”

Arthur chuckled. He slid the hand on Merlin’s arse to gently caress his swollen rim. “Hmm,” he murmured, nuzzling Merlin’s throat. “Not sure we’d need it.”

Merlin hissed as Arthur slid the tip of his finger into him, caught on the line between pain and pleasure.

“Well, maybe just a touch,” Arthur whispered, nipping at Merlin’s earlobe.

Merlin put a hand in the center of Arthur’s chest, pushing himself up. Arthur groaned as the motion pressed Merlin’s cock against his.

“Firstly, I need to find the lube because it’s with the condoms. And secondly, who said the lube was for me?”

Arthur’s eyes darkened with lust. He reared up, taking Merlin’s face in his hands as he plundered his mouth with his own. Merlin put his hands on Arthur’s shoulders, blunt nails digging in. Arthur let go of Merlin’s face and put his hands on Merlin’s hips in a bruising grip.

Merlin laughed, breathlessly. “So, that’s a yes?”

“You have exactly ten seconds to find the lube before I go ask Hannah where she keeps hers.”

Merlin choked off a sound that might have been a yelp as he crawled off Arthur and frantically searched the bedclothes for the lube.

“Yes!” he shouted, expression triumphant as he held up the lube.

Arthur laughed so hard tears came to his eyes. The laughter ended in a harsh groan as a cool, lubed finger pushed its way into him.

“All right?” Merlin asked, meeting his gaze. He wanted to be sure the tears shining in Arthur’s eyes were from laughter and not pain.

Arthur bit his lip. “Trying to figure out why you didn’t do this sooner.”

Merlin nipped at the trail of hair beneath Arthur’s navel as he slid in another finger. “You liked being my protector,” he whispered against Arthur’s stomach.

Arthur’s eyes cleared of passion. “Merlin, I—”

“Sh, sh, sh,” Merlin soothed, leaning up to kiss Arthur softly. “If I hadn’t been okay with that, I would have let you know. I liked feeling protected. I loved the way you felt inside me. But I’ve been thinking about _this_ ,” he said, twisting his fingers inside Arthur, “for a few days now.”

Arthur reached up and gently stroked his fingers over Merlin’s cheekbone. “All you had to do was ask.”

Merlin smiled, his whole face lighting up. “Please?”

Arthur huffed out a laugh. “You’re going to need more lube. It’s been a while.”

“Oh, my pleasure,” he said, placing a soft kiss on Arthur’s lips.

Merlin slid back down and Arthur whined briefly at the loss of his warmth. Merlin stared up at his lover, smiling with passion as he added slick to his fingers. He bent and took Arthur’s cock into his mouth as he slid a third finger into his body.

“Good gods, Merlin!” Arthur shouted, his hands going up to grasp the rungs of the headboard.

Merlin hummed as he slid his fingers in and out of Arthur, stretching him in a steady rhythm.

“Merlin, please. Stop. I need you in me. I need to come with you in me.”

Merlin pulled off Arthur quickly and rested his forehead against the other man’s hipbone. “Damn it, Arthur, you can’t just say things like that.”

“Why?” Arthur asked, his familiar smirk back in place.

“Because I need to be in you when I come.”

“Find. The condoms,” Arthur ordered.

Merlin grinned and slid his free hand beneath Arthur’s bum. He gave him a quick pinch, then slid his hand back with a condom packet between his fingers.

“Where? How?”

“Magic,” he said, lifting it to his mouth and carefully tearing open the wrapper. 

Arthur chuckled and leaned up, gasping in ecstasy as the movement caused the tip of Merlin’s finger to brush against his prostate. He grit his teeth to focus on the task of sheathing Merlin’s cock in the condom. Once finished with his task, he carefully flopped on his back and sighed. 

“I’m spent, you’re going to have to do the rest of the work yourself,” he told Merlin, with a salacious wink.

Merlin faked a yawn. “I’m so very tired myself,” he said, carefully sliding his fingers out of Arthur and stretching his arms over his head.

Arthur levered himself up and bit Merlin’s nipple, tugging the ring between his teeth. “If you don’t fuck me _right now—”_

He was cut off by Merlin kissing him hard, pushing him back down against the mattress. He kept Arthur pressed to the mattress with the weight of his body and the ferocity of his kiss. Merlin reached down with one hand to grasp Arthur’s thigh, hitching the other man’s leg up over his hip.

“Ready?” Merlin whispered against Arthur’s mouth.

“Yes,” Arthur replied, tilting his hips up to meet Merlin’s shallow thrusts. He gasped as the head of Merlin’s cock caught on his stretched rim. “Please!”

Merlin took pity and carefully guided himself into Arthur, gasping at the hot, tight heat that surrounded him. He rested his forehead against Arthur’s as he was fully seated in him. “Definitely should have done this sooner,” he gasped.

“ _Move_!” Arthur ordered, pressing his heel against Merlin’s arse.

Merlin pressed his hand against the headboard, anchoring himself as his other hand grasped Arthur’s hip in a firm grip. He slowly withdrew and then slammed back into Arthur, ripping a shout from his lover’s throat.

Arthur reached up to brace himself against the headboard with one hand. He threaded the fingers of his other hand through Merlin’s hair, holding tightly as Merlin pounded into him.

“Yes, Merlin, yes!” Arthur shouted, his eyes rolling back in ecstasy when Merlin found the perfect angle to hit his prostate every time.

“So good, Arthur,” Merlin gasped.

“Touch me. Please. I need to come.”

Merlin slid his hand from Arthur’s hip to his cock, gently sliding his hand up and down in a loose fist. The contrast of the sharp pressure against his prostate and the fleeting touch on his cock sent Arthur over the edge in moments. Merlin marveled at the image of Arthur’s head thrown back on the pillow, mouth open in a shout and neck bared in submission. He leaned down, his lips a breath away from Arthur’s as he continued to thrust into him in a hard, steady rhythm.

Arthur looked up at him and smiled softly. “I love you.”

“Arthur!” Merlin shouted as he came. He lost his grip on the headboard and fell against Arthur. Arthur wrapped his arms around him, holding him tightly as Merlin shuddered against him.

They lay wrapped in each other, panting, for several minutes before Merlin could move to carefully withdraw from Arthur. He tied off the condom and dropped it in the bin by the bed.

“I may have to rethink that late morning sex,” he muttered as he nuzzled his face against Arthur’s chest.

Arthur chuckled. “I’m okay with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I made Emily Prentiss and Phil Coulson siblings. And their mother is Victoria Winslow (Red). Because I can.


End file.
